


Boys Like You

by XanderB



Category: Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Drama & Romance, Explicit Language, Fluff and Angst, Gay Sex, High School, Homophobia, Homosexual relationships', Lemon, Lime, M/M, Mentions of Suicide, OOC, Oral Sex, Slow Build, m/m - Freeform, mild violence, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-07 08:44:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 72,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5450459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XanderB/pseuds/XanderB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Highschool is never as easy as it really should be. For two boys in particular, it is going to be a helluva year that neither one could have expected. Squall Leonhart is the beautiful and entirely misunderstood boy with big dreams, a dark secret and an infamous reputation as the school whore. Seifer Almasy is the son of a politician who bears the impossible weight of his father's expectations, a handsome, charming jock with an image he can barely manage to keep. An explosive relationship is inevitable.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII nor do I make any profit on this work of fiction. I also don't own the rights to any song lyrics used during the writing on the work of fiction nor any of the social media referenced. Any likeness to any particular person was unintended and is purely based on my own imagination. Think that covers it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which they meet...

Chapter One: Welcome to Paradise

Squall leaned casually against the rough red brick next to the worn oak front doors of the school, taking a long drag off of his cigarette, letting the acrid smoke escape from between his lips as bored silver-blue depths watched the other students arriving. Some lingered outside like himself, smoking or fooling around, while the more studious went into the building to prepare for classes even though it was still early. 

Soft chocolate strands swayed in a cool-warm breeze, the familiar voices of his peers carried to sharp ears on that same breeze. A group of popular girls twittered as they walked up the wide cobbled path leading into the school, quieting as they passed him, glancing at him repeatedly and whispering. He smirked at them, blowing them a kiss before taking another pull off his cigarette. They scowled disgustedly at him and went inside quickly. The youth shook his head, still grinning to himself. School wouldn't be nearly as interesting if it weren't for the reactions of his peers to his outrageous behavior.

He wouldn't attend at all if he didn't have so much fun disturbing the other students every chance he got. It was like a game. When he caught a certain glance from any of the guys, he made it a point to tease and seduce them, getting great entertainment out of playing the game. Whether they claimed to be straight, were jocks, had cheerleader girlfriends, or were the type that hid in the library at lunch, it made no difference to the brunette, nor did it seem to stop any of them from accepting the advances. Boys were so easy to manipulate. 

Squall had been aware since puberty at twelve years old that he was homosexual and had accepted it, not bothering to question it; it just was. He flicked the ash off the end of his smoke with a black-lacquered fingertip as he shifted against the brick ever so slightly. He was watching for new faces, filtering through the ones he'd already had and the ones he didn't want to have, searching instead for the transfer student that was apparently scheduled to start that day. He'd picked up the rumour only just a week or so before and he wanted to see. He'd pretty much had everyone else already. It was no challenge to seduce them again and grade nines were so... He grimaced, shaking his head.

He bent a knee, resting the sole of one heavy booted foot against the brick behind him, stifling a yawn with his unoccupied hand. He dug his cell out of the left pocket of his favourite jeans; the ones that were torn and threadbare in some places and fit snugly, comfortably conforming to his slim legs and pert backside. He flipped the phone open, idly glancing at the time as he took a last drag off his cigarette. 'The new guy had better get here soon or this will have been such a waste,' he thought with an air of impatience, stubbing out the finished cigarette and dropping it to the ground by his other foot.

The 'new guy' in question was just arriving, stepping out of a sleek black SUV driven by a burly, bald man wearing a suit and sunglasses. Seifer Almasy was unimpressed. They'd moved once again, he and his father. It was probably the tenth time in his short eighteen years of life. The tall blond slung his backpack over one shoulder as he stepped out of the back right-side passenger seat, sparing a nonchalant wave at his driver before the man pulled away from the curb and drove off. 

Another move, another shitty, little Podunk town in the middle of nowhere, another school filled with other kids just like all the others he'd met in the past. It was his fourth high school already. He was used to the routine. Though he had made the transitions several times in his life, he regarded the first day at each new school with a sort of profound animosity. Impressions were everything as his father had so carefully ingrained into him from the time he could first walk and talk. You only wanted to know the right types of people. He heaved a silent sigh and took his first step towards the elderly school building. 

It was a monstrous institution, all red brick and lacquered oak, cobbled stone pathways and faded asphalt parking lots for the teachers and what few students actually had use of vehicles, be it their parents' or the even fewer who actually owned their own vehicle. Seifer didn't, of course. He'd ruined the first car his father had ever bought for him just that passed summer, out gallivanting with his friends, doing things unbecoming of a Republican politician's son and so he was stuck with Mike, his father's personal assistant turned driver and babysitter.

The move, his father had said, was a welcome one. After his debacle with the car, his no nonsense father had decided to take a position in a small town with a large republican population and assumed it would be best for his only son and for his own reputation of course. It would be easier to keep an eye on Seifer and avoid bad publicity. It had taken quite a lot to cover up the details of the accident when the younger Almasy had written off his first car and Alexander Almasy would be damned if he was going to stand for any more indecent behavior from the rebellious youth. 

Seifer's record as a student on the other hand was exceptional as was expected of him. Before the accident, his reputation had been more or less squeaky clean as his father had wanted. More often than not, the youth was an avenue that needed to be maintained, polished and proper as a political leader's child should be. Who would vote for a leader who couldn't even keep his own son in line? The answer, as Seifer had been made well aware was unacceptable and so he did as he was told, as he was expected. 'No more cars, no more accidents, and no more bullshit,' his father had warned as they'd driven to their new home the night before.

The youth shook his head to clear his less than pleasant thoughts. He needed to get his head in the game. He knew the drill; he pasted a fake, easygoing smile on his face, all too ready to make nice with the right crowd as he entered the school, failing to notice a pair of stormy eyes watching him as he made his way in. The eighteen year old immediately picked out the separate cliques, focusing on the group of clearly popular and sought after females chatting to the right of the girls' washroom and the group of jocks tossing a football around the corridor as they approached said group. Jade depths ran over each member of both groups, immediately zeroing in on the alphas. The 'alpha-bitch' was a thin, dark-haired pretty little thing wearing a bit too much make-up; She had a nice rack, good taste in clothes, big doe eyes, and a clear air of authority over the other girls in the group surrounding her. The males were simple to distinguish. They followed the biggest (and stupidest in all likelihood) of the group and that was that. 

Seifer made a mental note to hit the pretty little queen bee up for a date later regardless of what her relationship status might be. It would be best if he could date her and then dump her, thus securing himself a snug little niche in the upper echelon of the school hiearchy whilst also allowing himself to be unattached. He grimaced inwardly. School really was more work than it should be.

Squall had watched the new student with a hungry fascination, licking his lips as he watched him approach, disappearing through the heavy oak doors, unaware of the brunette's perusal. He considered the brawny blond's casual confidence as he moved, the easy smile he plastered on his mouth, his preppy clothing and the SUV he'd arrived in. Definitely a kept boy and definitely the type Squall would like to have a taste of. The chocolate-haired teen was a little disappointed when the handsome blond failed to even glance his way, but he shrugged it off; he had all year to get his attention after all. He'd always enjoyed the chase most of all.

He lingered outside for a few minutes more before meandering into the school, adjusting his rather overly decorated canvas messenger bag against his hip as he went up the stairs, vaguely hearing someone whistle as he passed. He paid the other students little attention, hardly caring when whispers followed his trek to his locker. It was funny really, that they all gossiped about him, not realizing he reveled in the attention. Everyone knew him for one reason or another, whether they'd had the pleasure of having him blow them out behind the bleachers or if he'd slept with their boyfriend; everyone knew who Squall Leonhart was, not that a single one of them really knew him. He felt like a celebrity nonetheless. It was only a matter of time until the new guy knew him too.

The slim brunette hummed to himself softly as he opened his locker, shoving his bag in unceremoniously before peering into the mirror stuck magnetically on the inside of the metal door. He fixed a few choppy pieces of spider web fine brown hair before pulling out a spiraled notebook and a chemistry text book from the top shelf of the locker, slamming it closed behind him. He locked it before making his way up to the next floor for his first period Chemistry IV class carrying his books under his arms lazily, a pronounced sensual sway to his hips as he moved. 

Upon his entrance into the school, Seifer had been directed straight to the office to pick up a class schedule, collecting some rather interesting gossip along the way. The typical -proper name- is getting it on with -proper name-, even though -proper name- did -so and so-. It was official; every high school ever was exactly the same. It made it easier for him of course. He'd played the game several times already; he'd want to seat himself with the jocks, avoid the theater kids; the fags would make themselves apparent soon enough and that would be that. One name that kept cropping up though was irking him. 'Squall Leonhart...' His peers didn't seem to have much nice to say about him, though apparently if one needed to get off, he would be the one to seek out if you didn't mind a dude sucking your dick, of course.

'Well,' he thought, 'I'll be damned, this school has a whore too, albeit a homosexual one, but a whore nonetheless.'

His previous school had actually had a couple of known whores, one or two per gender. Seifer considered himself above such things. He wasn't a virgin, but he'd never had much need for the services of the school skank. Sex wasn't exactly a priority in his life. The scattered experiences he'd had, had been unsatisfying and altogether disappointing, making the appeal for more next to nil for the handsome blond. He had better things to do with his time. 

His idle thoughts were interrupted by his arrival at his first period class, Chemistry IV. Oh joy, oh bliss... He had been given the appropriate books while at the office and so prepared himself for the long, arduous day of making connections. As he approached the door to the classroom, the androgynous person in front of him caught his attention. He hadn't really expected to see him just yet, but there he was. Going by the mish mash of descriptions he'd picked up from the gossip in the halls, he had just come face to face with Squall. He gave the other male a once over as best he could from his position behind him.

He could really only see the brunette from the backside, but from what he could see, the other boy seemed to be as attractive as the rumours had claimed him to be. Slim and not too tall for a guy, nice ass, soft looking hair the colour of rich chocolate, and a decidedly sultry sway to his hips as he moved. He could see why the other made a successful school slut. He was completely certain that the boy in front of him was indeed Squall. There was no mistaking it, not with the seductively graceful way he moved. It was pretty clear where Squall's preferences lay in Seifer's opinion. The dude was definitely of the homosexual persuasion. A darker part of his mind made a nasty remark that he refused to give voice to, above such open hostility on his first day in his new school. Instead, he decided to make it a personal mission not to get paired up with the feminine boy if he could help it, in fact the tall blond planned to avoid him at all costs. Squall was definitely not the right kind of people for Seifer to be caught hanging around with, even if he was just the slightest bit curious about the alluring brunette, not that he would admit to having such a curiosity.

Of course, fate very rarely listened to the pleas of the masses, finding great joy in foiling even the most well laid of plans.

 

TBC...


	2. The Chemicals Between Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First impressions are every thing.

The somewhat feminine brunette pushed the classroom door open idly, not realizing he was being examined by the very person he had been thinking about. Thick-lashed stormy eyes widened when he held the door for the tall male behind him, coming face to face with a handsome close up that he recognized as the newly transferred blond bombshell. He was quick to replace his surprise with his usual flirty demeanor, pout lips curling into a seductive smile as he looked the brawny jock over indiscreetly.

"Morning," he purred softly, the singular word rolling off his tongue as he lowered his lashes at the other male. He let go of the door once Seifer had stepped inside. Most students were already seated in pairs at each desk facing a wall of chalkboards behind the teacher's desk which had a sink and other necessary chemistry equipment on the far side of it.

"Thanks," Seifer replied politely, fake smile still in place on his face. That flirtatious grin and the way that the brunette had made the most innocent greeting sound like something out of a porno movie only served to cement the fact that it was indeed Squall Leonhart that he was dealing with. It was too early for interacting with the likes of him in Seifer's opinion, but he supposed he had no choice.

Squall turned his attention from Seifer to the professor when the bespectacled, balding, middle-aged man cleared his throat, "To your seat if you please Mr.Leonhart." The salacious brunette grinned innocently at him before sashaying to his seat in the back, the only desk that seemed to have an open seat for the new student. He dropped his books onto the desk with a dull thud and plopped into his chair, leaning back and inclining his head. He watched the front of the room from beneath lowered lashes, gaze focused completely on the newcomer as if he were imagining ways in which to devour the blond. 

Seifer very nearly gave his head a shake as he watched Squall move to take his seat. He'd sashayed, literally sashayed and much to his dismay, Seifer hadn't been able to remove his eyes from him the whole damn time. 'I'm a republican for Christ's sake! I go to church even and here I am staring at some faggy dude's ass. God help me...' The tall, tanned youth gave a silent curse as he searched the room for an empty seat and realized the only one available was right beside said faggy dude.

Whispers erupted from around the classroom as all eyes followed Squall Leonhart's progression to his seat before they followed his gaze back to the door where Seifer was still hesitating. 

"He's at it again already..." 

"Wasn't he just spotted yesterday with that teacher's aide in gym B?" 

"That new guy better watch out..." 

"He's so cute, what's his name?" 

"Didn't know we were getting a transfer..."

The emerald eyed male heaved a mental sigh, ears perking as the mutterings of the other students started up, reinforcing his resolve to watch himself around the overly sensual brunette boy and stay as far away from him as he could manage. He took the empty seat next to Squall reluctantly, dropping his backpack onto the floor as he pulled the chair out, laying his text book on the desk before he sat down. He slouched down in the chair, trying to seem unaffected and nonchalant as though sitting next to the lascivious brunette didn't cause him an ounce of discomfort. 

He averted his attention from his desk mate, leaning over to pointedly search through his bag to retrieve his binder and writing utensils, setting himself up for class as the teacher began his lesson. Once finished, he couldn't help but sneak a sidelong glance at the boy reclining next to him, thinking on the rumour he'd already heard placing the slender brunette with a teacher's aide just a day before Seifer's arrival. It seemed rather far-fetched to the older boy, but from the way Squall simply ignored the whispers instead of refuting the claims made Seifer second guess his initial disbelief.

Squall had watched the large golden haired boy the entire time he'd made his way to the seat next to him and gave him a flirty wink when he caught the other glancing at him to which Seifer had quickly averted his gaze refusing to blush at being caught staring at the other male. The dark-haired seventeen year old merely smiled to himself and turned his attention to the teacher, picking up his pen demurely and taking notes in a loopy scrawl that screamed of practiced calligraphy. Seifer snuck another glance over at Squall, eyes widening as he watched the words pouring on the paper from the other's boy's pen. He had never seen a boy with handwriting so nice. His own was blocky and thick-lined, all capitals, the lower-case being half the size of the normal capitalized characters. Not wanting to be caught watching the other again, Seifer was quick to focus back on his own notes, abbreviated in a language only he could understand. 

Squall shifted with a soft rustle of clothing, leaning forward over his notebook, resting his forearms on the desk as he wrote. The movement caused his shirt to ride up his back, revealing the inky black lines of what could only be a tattoo on his milky white skin, though it was impossible to tell what it was of from just the small strip of flesh that was showing. Seifer remained oblivious to the display, having forced himself to keep his brilliant green eyes on anything but the other male. 

The lithe young man was actually an exceptional student, nearly straight A as a matter of fact, not that any of his peers were aware of it. He preferred to keep it that way as well. The other students would only churn out rumours that he was servicing the staff in order to boost his grades and the slim boy had no desire to drag any of the teachers into the gossip that surrounded him daily. He didn't fancy having anyone fired or ruining any of their lives. Most of them were married with children, decent instructors, nice and normal. He'd never done a thing with any of them and that wasn't about to change, so rumours would be completely unnecessary and only cause a headache for all involved. 

In Squall's opinion, the teacher's aide had been no big deal; the guy was only in college after all and not that much older than any of the seniors at the high school, plus he'd been the one to approach the brunette in the first place. Unlike the teachers who would surely lose their jobs or worse, the aide would maybe be reprimanded and transferred, no big deal at all. It wouldn't weigh on Squall's conscience. Being a decent student wasn't something he wanted to flaunt anyways. Brown nosing wasn't sexy and the androgynous boy thrived on having a reputation for being sexy. Even if he was hated by all the girls and criticized, no one would deny he was sexy. The boy that could even seduce the straightest guys in school had to be.

Seifer doodled at the edges of his notes, bored once he'd finished copying the lines off the chalkboard, now simply trying to distract himself from his attractive desk mate. Squall sighed next to him as he leaned back in his seat, looking at the clock ticking on the wall above the teacher's chalkboards. He dropped his pen onto his notebook and stretched languidly, revealing the creamy expanse of his pale midriff, a pierced naval and sharp hip bones. It was at that point that Seifer just so happened to glance over, having heard the sigh, and found himself swallowing hard, eyes shying away quickly as he caught sight of his desk mate's provocative reclining position. For the rest of the lecture, the brawny blond tried his best not to look at the pretty brunette boy. He knew who he was now, what he was and he did not approve of it. In fact, he would change it if he could... Besides, he'd be dead if his father knew he had been sneaking glances at another boy, even if he was too attractive not to.

Squall straightened, covering a yawn with one pale, slim hand, the numerous bracelets adorning his bony wrist jingling as the teacher wound down, assigning the homework for the evening. Ten questions at the end of chapter four, blah... blah... blah. He only half listened, jotting down the assignment in the top right corner of his note boredly. The few minutes before the bell for second period rang was their own, the teacher seating himself behind his desk and burying himself in his own work, leaving the students to chat with their neighbors.

Seifer also scratched down the assignment before pulling his schedule out, putting his books and pens away in his backpack while he was in there. As he was bent over the bag, leaving his schedule unsupervised splayed as it was on the desk top, Squall took the opportunity to sneak a look at it, memorizing the handsome blond's name and locker number. He frowned as he scanned over the list of classes. It was a pity; they would only be seeing each other in chem and apparently in their afternoon drama class. The slight brunette was a bit surprised that the preppy seeming guy would even be in drama, of course, he'd probably taken it for an easy A, a GPA buffer as most of the others did. Squall slouched back into his seat as Seifer sat up once again, picking up the schedule and looking it over himself. 

The bell rang minutes later and most students fled quickly. The stormy eyed youth took his time, watching from beneath a veil of thick, dark lashes as Seifer stood and bent to retrieve his bag from the floor, slipping it on his shoulder whist adjusting his pants idly. Squall watched the movement with rapt fascination. He licked his lips unconsciously, not missing the chance to check out the other guy's nicely toned ass through his jeans. 

Squall was surprised when Seifer spoke to him, having remained completely silent throughout the entire class. He inclined his head, soft strands of chocolate hair obscuring his eyes as he took in the warm baritone of the other boy's voice, "Well, see you here tomorrow then I guess..." 

The brunette stood up before replying. "You bet Seifer," he affirmed in a sultry tone, ghosting soft fingertips along the blond's broad shoulders as he floated out of the classroom, books in hand. It didn't occur to Seifer until later that the caressing touch and husky voice had belonged to Squall and he was left to wonder how exactly the other male had known his name as he made his way to his next class. 

Squall's next class was PE, a class he'd been continuously failing since his first year, mostly because he refused to participate in the sporting events of the all-male gym class. He didn't fancy being covered in bruises from being tackled and groped. Contrary to popular belief, the promiscuous teen did have standards and didn't want just anyone's grabby hands all over him. He debated skipping it as he did most days. They didn't even bother chastising him about it anymore, understanding the male's reluctance to participate in the sports and subsequent communal showering. He always showed up for swimming and track, and never missed a health class, but adamantly refused to play any contact sports or shower with the other students. He couldn't understand why they wouldn't just let him take gym with the girls' class. It was a known fact he was a fag, after all. It's not like he'd want to sneak a peek in the girls' change room. He had no desire to get an eyeful of snatch. Honestly...

He shook his head as he walked through the hall, considering what he would do whist skipping his next class. Deciding that he might as well wander down to the cafe a block away from the school and flirt with the cute college guy that worked there during the morning and afternoon, he made his way out of the school building. He'd see if he could get a free coffee out of him while he was there just for fun. He dropped his books off in the backseat of his beloved car before making his way there in no particular rush. 

Squall thought about Seifer while he walked to the cafe, pondering why the other youth had spoken to him at the end of class when he'd seemed so adamant not to the entire time prior. Perhaps the other was already trapped in the web; he couldn't be sure, but he thought he might have caught a glimpse of the look earlier. Maybe things were looking up.

He did manage to get a free latte from the guy behind the counter of the cafe just as he'd planned to, leaving as soon as he'd gotten what he came for, uninterested in doing anything more with the cute, but dumb (and obviously bottom) college boy. He lit a cigarette as he walked back to the school leisurely, a little satisfied grin playing on his lips. He spent the next thirty minutes sitting on the school monument, feet dangling in the air off the side of the marble stone as he smoked and drank his latte.

Five minutes before next period began, he hopped down, tossing his emptied cup into the nearest trash bin and stopped by his car to retrieve his acoustic guitar from the trunk. He needed it for music class, his real passion, aside from playing with other boys. He slung the case over one shoulder, flicking the last of his cigarette away as he opened the door and entered the school once again, not bothering to stop by his locker before going straight to the music room. Squall had begun learning guitar from his dad at age three and was quite skilled at playing it after practicing it for over a decade. He was also a decent singer and songwriter, not that anyone was aware. Squall Leonhart didn't have friends, just people he knew and people he blew. It was only high school after all, college was where shit got real.

He was in an exceedingly good mood by the time lunch rolled around, no longer dying of boredom, having been able to play his guitar freely for the last forty-five minutes. When the bell rang, he made a beeline for his car, sitting cross-legged on the hood of the old corvette with the guitar cradled in his lap, another ringed notebook laying next to his hip as he played several chords, a pencil tucked behind one ear, which he removed now and then to make changes to the song he was composing, a cigarette dangling from his lips haphazardly. He was so immersed in the new song that he completely forgot that he had planned to stalk the new guy during lunch. 

 

TBC...


	3. The Secret's in the Telling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rumour has it...

It didn't fully permeate Seifer's mind until he was already seated in his next class, Advanced English IV, that Squall had known his name when he'd bid him farewell in their shared chemistry class. He decisively chose not to dwell on how the other boy had manged to know such a detail when he couldn't recall introducing himself. He'd been forced to shake it off and pay attention to the boredom that was his English class. 

During the class, he found that he had indeed been sitting next to the infamous Squall Leonhart in chemistry and that just who had experimented with the slender brunette was a particularly touchy subject. Apparently, the other students had no problem slapping the whore label on the other boy, but were much more vague when it came to who exactly had helped him to earn the title. The gossip of the school was interesting; it seemed that Squall clashed with nearly every clique and yet was known by all of them in one way or another. 

The blond listened idly to the chit chat, learning the names of the members in the popular groups, his particular interest being in the group of girls he'd seen earlier that morning, more precisely, the doe eyed, busty little princess that was clearly their leader. He learned that she was currently involved with Tanner, the PE aide that had also apparently been seen in Squall's company the previous day. It seemed that Rinoa was still unaware of the rumour, though for how long was a mystery. With the way gossip seemed to travel in the school, Seifer assumed the inevitable would take place at lunch, when Rinoa would most likely be made aware of her boyfriend's transgression and would subsequently dump Tanner like a bad habit.

He was not disappointed when he stood in the crowded cafeteria staring in disgust at the poor excuse for nutrition on his paper plate positioned on the tray in his hands. He dumped the unidentifiable slop into the trash and ditched the tray just as the clash between the pretty little princess with too much make up and the tall, handsome college student that had been her boyfriend took place. One minute they were sitting close, kissing and cuddling, the next, another of the girls from the group was whispering in one of Rinoa's ears whilst her eyes darted over to the teacher's aide that was perched next to her. The dark haired queen bee was standing and dumping her chocolate milk over Tanner's head, screeching curses at him in a matter of seconds before she stormed out, followed by her dolled up drones. Seifer gave a half-smile as he watched the entire scene unfold, already planning how he would secure a date with the newly single young woman.

He gave a glance over the cafeteria once more, unimpressed by any of the food options until his emerald gaze caught on the wonderful golden arches beyond one of the large windows. He figured he could begin his pursuit of the pretty, popular girl the following day. For the time being, McDonald's was beckoning him. Perhaps it wasn't the most healthy of choices, but at least it would be edible unlike the cafeteria sludge. He was out of the packed lunch room and on his way through the parking lot momentarily, focused on the familiar fast food restaurant.

Squall's hypersensitive ears picked up the sound of gravel crunching under foot as someone came traipsing into the parking lot where he sat perched on the hood of his parked car. He glanced up, pretty twilight eyes widening as he spotted the unmistakable blond sex god, Seifer, heading towards the mickey d's. 

He wrinkled his nose at Seifer's choice for lunch. "Don't you know that crap's bad for you?" he called out from his lax position on the hood of his car, shifting idly as he stared across the parking lot at the other male. A playful breeze ruffled his choppy brown locks and he unconsciously lifted a hand to brush them back out of his face as his gaze remained glued to Seifer's approach. He cocked his head at the taller boy as he leaned back on his palms, the guitar still sitting in his lap, one booted foot tucked under him, having abandoned his cross-legged pose from before. The rips in his jeans were made obvious as the sun made the white of his skin look even paler in contrast to the shredded black denim. 

Seifer gave a start, his concentration abruptly disrupted by the sound of Squall's voice ringing out behind him, pointing out the obvious. McD's was just as bad nutritionally as the school's food certainly, probably worse in fact, but at least it was palatable. Turning on his heel and walking backwards for a few steps; he hunted for the attractive brunette with his eyes; finding him reclined on the hood of a car. He rubbed the back of his head, responding in the most friendly tone as he could muster, "True, but at least I can choke it down. Not eating would be worse."

The distance and the brightness of the sunlight reflecting against pale skin gave the impression that the reclined boy was wearing Zebra-striped trousers, Seifer observed idly though he knew that that wasn't the case having spent a fair bit of chemistry class sneaking glances at the other boy; it was simply the illusion created by the contrast, Squall's skin being that smooth looking milky white, his pants being black. Seifer blinked several times, realizing he had been checking Squall out once again.

A coy grin spread across the brunette's plush lips when Seifer's gaze zeroed in on him, widening further when said blond bombshell turned and slowed his steps to speak to him directly. "There's a cafe just up the block. Their wraps are to die for," he suggested amicably, tone overly friendly and dripping with underlying sensuality. Squall didn't eat fast food himself; it didn't agree with him.

"Thanks for the tip, though quick and cheap seems more practical at the moment," Seifer began, his eyes sliding over the other male's relaxed position again before he could stop himself, "What are you doin' out here anyway?" There was an undeniable underlying tone of interest in the question that Seifer had not meant to colour his voice, his curiosity and the need to cover his staring getting the best of him. He gave a quick look over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't going to run into anything, still walking backwards towards the fast food joint, though the pace was an excruciatingly slow one. His gaze went back to watching the other boy, pace slowing to a near stand still as he waited for the expected reply.

Squall merely shrugged one slim shoulder. "Suit yourself," he replied in response to the jock's decision to stick with the fast food. His grin broadened briefly as he noticed Seifer's lovely green eyes crawling over his body once more. 

"Mm, just relaxing and soaking in the sun," was the delayed response to Seifer's inquiry that poured from reddish, bowed lips. Squall was quite clearly unfazed by the other boy's perusal, reveling in the attention. 

"Instead of sampling our delightful cafeteria menu?" Seifer remarked with a smirk, refusing to blush as he tried to brush off the fact that the impish brunette had obviously caught on to his staring. Squall, for his part pulled a disgusted face at the mention of the unidentifiable shit the cafeteria passed off as edible. He would rather eat McDonald's than that as well, given no other option. He shook his head, the disgusted expression melting off his androgynous lovely face once more, replaced with a heated flirty glint in his eyes and a coy half-smirk.

"You know, if you don't want to eat around here, I could always drive you somewhere to pick something else up..." he let the brash offer trail off, lashes lowering over darkening stormy depths, pupils narrowed in the bright light of noon. He shifted lazily as he focused his sultry stare on the taller boy. He was sure Seifer had heard all of the rumours by then anyhow. 

At the offer for a ride elsewhere, Seifer chuckled, the sound echoing hollowly. The rumours he'd heard drove his next response, without much thought, his mouth moving on auto, "Who will end up giving who a ride? No thanks, think I'll pass." He winced inwardly at his complete lack of tact. Though it could have been done with a little more finesse, he felt it necessary to get it out in the open, to make it perfectly clear that he was not interested in what Squall had to offer, regardless of how attractive the slight brunette may be. Squall Leonhart was trouble with a capital 'T' and if Seifer didn't keep his guard up, he knew he would probably end up in a compromising situation, given Squall's persuasive nature. 

A delicate brow rose towards Squall's hairline, a little surprised by the broad shouldered blond's comment. He hadn't expected such a blunt response so soon when he hadn't even so much as groped the other male yet. He chuckled huskily, leaning back further on the hood of his car. "Your loss. It'd be the smoothest ride you've ever had," his voice was nonchalant, a charming smile remaining on his lips. The challenge that had just been issued by the taller youth only made excitement spark in his eyes, even though his posture remained completely unmoved. The game had begun. 

Squall's blue-grey gaze followed Seifer as he turned on his heel and continued on his way to the McDonald's with a shake of his head and a simple farewell gesture of his hand without turning back as he made his hasty escape. Squall heaved a sigh, effectively blowing stray strands of hair from his eyes as he flopped back further onto the windshield, pulling his guitar up onto his chest as he let both of his legs dangle off the front of his car. He played a few chords, smiling to himself. The year had just gotten a whole lot more interesting. Seifer Almasy would give in; they always did.

"Pfft... Yeah, not happening bub. Least not in this lifetime," the jade-eyed jock muttered under his breath as he left the other male's vicinity, closing the issue in his mind, at least for the moment. The lithe brunette appeared completely unfazed by his blunt handling of the situation, not even putting forth the slightest effort to deny the move he had tried to play on Seifer. The brawny youth may not be the most experienced when it came to the art of getting laid, but he knew full well how to refuse an offer that would surely only cause him difficulties. Still, the lack of denial from Squall proved most disturbing to the older youth, though he couldn't be sure why it made him so uncomfortable.

He continued on his less than merry way, arriving momentarily at the fast food restaurant, wherein his mouth wateringly unhealthy lunch awaited. He idly waited in line, staring into nothing as his thoughts rolled over each other, mechanically placing his order and waiting for his McNuggets. He decided to stay in the McDonald's to eat, lest he have to converse with the sultry brunette again so soon after their first run in.

He wasn't the only one who'd decided that the fattening fast food was a better alternative to the cafeteria garbage. A few members of the football team that he'd met in his class before lunch were also eating there. They were quick to invite him to sit with them, chatting him up, recognizing him as one of their own immediately. There were a few comments about Leonhart, as they entitled the lithe gay boy, most of which were nasty. The leader of the group heatedly denied the fact that Squall had made a move on him and vehemently refused to admit that he had taken the other boy up on the offer. Seifer couldn't help, but chuckle as he listened to the teasing and the banter of the other boys around him. It was so easy to fall back into familiar habits.

The kinds of things the jocks said about Squall were a mixture of crass, vulgar, and altogether obscene, but expected and somewhat deserved in most students' opinions, though Seifer was still uncertain about his own perspective on the matter. With the reiteration of some previously heard rumours and some new additions to the ones already in his repertoire, Seifer was beginning to become even more intrigued by the decidedly feminine brunette that was Squall Leonhart. At least the boy was honest and apparently immune to ridicule. 

***

Squall's reputation had begun in his very first year of high school when someone he'd thought he could trust had started a vicious rumour that he was offering blow jobs under the bleachers during lunch periods. From there, it escalated to gang bangs in the showers, hand jobs in the janitors' closets and any number of other nefarious acts, most of which were completely untrue. It didn't matter that Squall had done nothing more than kiss his very first crush.

Of course, the youth wasn't made aware until later that it was that same crush that had spread the very first rumour which had then snowballed into so much worse. He'd been a senior and Squall, naive and young as he was then, had fallen for him immediately, following him around like a lovesick puppy. It had only lasted a couple of months, but it had been enough for the fourteen year old starry-eyed brunette to think he was in love. After he'd slept with him for the first time, the guy had avoided him like the plague, even going so far as to post pictures of him around the school labeling him a stalker and having his friends tease him ruthlessly until he was in tears. The fourteen year old Squall had been devastated. He'd spent all of winter break stewing over the whole ordeal, his distraught over the whole matter quickly turning into rage as the chilly days passed. His dad had let him stay home an extra week and bought him new clothes, ones he'd asked for, the kind of clothes he wore now.

He'd closed himself off and told himself that high school was only four years out of his life and then he would be free. His father had always been awesome about everything. Being a rock musician with a carefree demeanor, he'd seen it all and when his son had come out to him during that fateful winter break, he'd merely shrugged and handed Squall a package of condoms, simply saying to 'stay safe'. That had been the extent of their conversation about the teen's inherent sexuality and the change in his personality. When he'd returned to school, he'd made the rumours true, though he never had done anything in the janitor's closet; it was pretty gross in those closets and of course gang bangs weren't really his cup of tea, but he didn't care to correct the already spread gossip. The more his peers ridiculed him, the more whorish he acted; it was retaliation; it was revenge and he reveled in the knowledge that the rumours made him infamous in the school. No one could hurt him anymore because he was in control.

He'd never actually slept with most of the guys he fooled around with, usually just giving them head, an act he had become particularly talented at over the past couple of years. Most guys, especially the straight ones had no fucking clue what to do with him once they had him bent over anyhow. After his first few experiences actually getting fucked by clumsy, inconsiderate dicks, he'd pretty much given up hope on enjoying intercourse, none too fond of being bedridden for days after each rough experience. He'd even been in the hospital once. Yet those few incidents had been enough to churn out rumours that he'd let the entire football team fuck him during March break in tenth grade, one right after the other. They just kept building from there, even after the senior who'd started it all had graduated. Squall just accepted it all as if he was untouchable. Nothing they said could hurt him.

In blinding contrast to Squall's, Seifer's love life hadn't been particularly active. A few girls had chased him down, two had managed to actually seduce him, the first having been accepted by the blond purely out of curiosity and the simple male need to boast that he had indeed lost his virginity and the second because he'd simply gotten tired of avoiding it and he'd honestly run out of excuses to refuse her. Neither had been particularly enjoyable at the time, though they'd seemed rather satisfied. Seifer had been left with an empty feeling, even if he hadn't minded them as people. He'd never professed his love for any of the girls he'd dated, nor the ones he'd had sex with; he just couldn't see himself going much further, making that deeper connection with the types of girls his father approved of. Sure, they were all beautiful in their own right, and some had been smart, humanitarians even, but there'd always been something missing, some level to him that they just couldn't meet him on. No guys had so much as attempted anything on him so far, at least aside from his few run ins with Squall Leonhart. He'd only considered the fact that he might be homosexual in the darker corners of his mind and only on those quiet nights when he just couldn't get to sleep. Eventually, he'd simply decided to view dating as a way to move up in social circles, instead of anything more intimate.

As for friends, he'd always had plenty or at least what passed for friends, mostly guys he could interact with, make useful connections with and appease his overbearing father with. His father's money meant that when he'd set his mind to it, he could throw one hell of a party. His dad's position in congress meant that he spent a lot of time at the office, meaning Seifer didn't have a curfew, so he could stay out late, attending all those little social functions that were held so dear to the privileged. As long as his grades were above average and he didn't do anything that would carry embarrassment over to himself and in turn his father, Seifer had all the freedom any eighteen year old could dream of. It was a good system, one that he did his best to maintain. No rocking the boat for him, especially after the incident with his first car.

***

Thinking he had made his way free of Leonhart for the time being, Seifer put his confused considerations about the other male to the back of his mind and had a pleasant meal, shooting the shit with the other jocks. They were the same as any other jock types he'd hung around before. No, he didn't play football himself, but he was very much a lacrosse player and had pitched for his previous school's baseball team instead. That little tidbit got the usual response, some jokes about pitchers and catchers, good-natured teasing to test him, but he laughed them off instead of violently denying them. In the end, he was painted as a chill guy, someone that would fit in just fine with the group, not a spaz, and certainly not a queer.

He laughed with the others as they left the restaurant, making their way back to the school. A few of his new 'friends' shielded their eyes and gestured, pointing Squall out to him as if he hadn't already met the brunette and warning him to keep far away from the fag if he knew what was good for him. They said he was easy, a whore and tempter of wholesome, Christian boys like themselves, including Seifer in that statement as well. They denied any such affairs personally, but they assured him that what they said was true about the dark-haired guitar player. It was a sure sign in Seifer's unvoiced opinion, that somewhere along the line, someone was lying about something. How could they know for certain that their information was God's honest truth if not a single one of them had played around with the brunette first hand?

Squall packed his guitar away as lunch period was ending, smoking a last cigarette as he watched the members of the football team leaving the McDonald's, gaze catching on familiar faces, including the handsome new boy. 'So he's made nice with the other jocks. Smart boy,' Squall thought with a knowing smirk as he flicked his cigarette, resting his backside against the front of his corvette as he watched them shoving each other and laughing like the testosterone high idiots they generally were.

He blew a not so subtle kiss at the football captain and designated leader of the group when he saw them pointing him out to Seifer. Gregory Houser was a broad-shouldered, cocky brute who'd hooked up with Squall during a party early on in the year, had even begged the young brunette to suck him off. Later, he'd said he'd been drunk and thought Leonhart had been a chick. Squall snorted; the other boy had the mental capacity of a gift-wrapped box of gravel and a tiny prick. It was really no wonder his cliche cheerleader girlfriend had dumped his dumb ass just after that incident. 

Squall's stormy gaze followed their approach as he picked up the spiraled notebook and pencil from the hood, flicking away the butt of his finished cigarette before tossing the notebook and pencil into the backseat of his car. He closed the door and hit the automatic locks, cocking a hip as the group moved towards the school. He waited for the inevitable, poorly thought out taunt that would be on their lips once they were in close enough proximity for him to hear them without any of the authority catching wind of it. 

Gregory, having been made a fool of by the blown kiss and feeling the need to reinstate his masculinity, decided it would be best to tease the nasty little faggot a bit before next class began. "Got AIDS yet?" was the terribly distasteful and off-colour remark that came from the jock's wide mouth, a nasty sneer marring his otherwise handsome features. Squall bristled in spite of all of his best attempts to ignore the offensive remark. HIV and AIDS weren't something to joke about. Squall didn't take too kindly to the remark, being that he was an avid condom user. His dad had taught him better than that; safety always came first. Being a slut was no excuse to be stupid after all.

"Piss off Greg," was the curt reply as Squall turned to walk into the school purposefully.

"Or what?" the burly teen antagonized, following after him. The slender brunette's eyes darkened with anger, pupils narrowed in the twilight depths.

"Gregory, it would be unwise to make me angry." They were now in the hallway of the first floor, students mingling in the vicinity stopped to watch, snickering and whispering among themselves as the androgynous male faced off with the large jock.

"Why? Who's gonna be afraid of a prissy little faggot?" Greg questioned, smirking, proud of himself as he looked around the congregating crowd cockily. The gathered students laughed, giving the bully what he wanted. Squall's jaw clenched in irritation. Leave it to the retarded neanderthal to start something to impress his new friend.

Squall moved with a smooth grace, swiftly pressing his slim frame right up against the other boy, grinding their pelvises together as he tiptoed to speak in a calm, quiet tone in taller jock's ear, "If you don't fuck off, I'll post the video of you crying my name like a little bitch while you came in my mouth on YouTube and Facebook for all your little buddies to see. You wouldn't want them seeing that now, would you?" His breath caressed the older male's neck and ear, Gregory's form stiffening as Squall's words hit their mark. Squall's blue-grey eyes widened unexpectedly as he felt hardness against his lower abdomen and he smirked wickedly as he stepped back, raising one dark cinnamon brow. Anyone who cared to look could see the erection tenting the other boy's loose jeans.

"Never took you for a masochist," he remarked as he turned on his heel, eyes narrowing in a glare until the other kids moved out of his way, parting like the red sea. Whispers and laughter erupted as soon as he'd disappeared down the other end of the hall.

Seifer had watched silently as Gregory, more brawn than brains, mad that he had been flustered and made a fool of by the faggy little school whore had said something out of line to Squall. Even to the tall blond, the comment didn't seem like a particularly nice thing to say; that sort of openly hostile attitude belonged in another era entirely. He couldn't help, but think it was rather hypocritical of the football player, seeing as Seifer was fairly certain that if Squall's gesture was any indication, Greg had been one of the guys who'd 'experimented' with the other male.

What happened following the entrance into the school hallway had left Seifer picking his jaw up off the ground and he stepped aside quickly as Squall walked passed hastily. 'Wow...' Seifer thought as his eyes followed Leonhart until he disappear around the opposite corner of the corridor. Squall certainly seemed to have balls of steel; he had totally destroyed the larger male. Backing up Squall's exit were a few whispered words and pointed looks which Seifer couldn't help but follow, dark blond brows rising as he laid eyes on the obvious tent in the other boy's jeans and he couldn't help but notice that Gregory looked as if he'd seen a ghost.

After that little episode, study hall and economics seemed boring; his day had been colored by the incident at lunch. It had made it clear to Seifer that despite the nasty rumours running rampant throughout the school, Squall indeed had some measure of power, probably even because of them. The school's dynamic was quite the puzzler to the tall teenager, something to ponder when the inevitable wave of facebook friend requests came rolling in.

Squall went to English in a sour mood, the good mood he'd been in previously completely ruined by the asshole of a jock. He wanted to throttle something. Though, he supposed, Gregory had gotten his. Surely his new girlfriend would be pissed off once she heard about what had happened in the hall. It served the dumb fuck right. He smirked, feeling just a little bit vindicated. Class was boring and he ditched study hall during his next period, opting to wander around in the back field while no gym classes were taking place. He read over his copy of Twelfth Night before drama began next period.

Squall sighed audibly, resting his chin on one soft palm. His drama class was packed with mostly guys, only a couple of the theater geek type girls that didn't like being in front of an audience, but were more than willing to be behind the scenes filling the quota for estrogen in the class. The rest of the idiots in the class, had taken it simply for the easy pass or because they too were theater geeks. The brunette actually enjoyed the class more than he let on most of the time and had taken it to learn about sound tech, lighting, and stage presence. He had aspirations of someday following in his dad's footsteps and having a career as a musician, so the class couldn't hurt. He'd taken the one the year before as well, learning quite a bit. It helped that he actually enjoyed studying Shakespeare as well.

The drama class took place in the auditorium rather than a classroom and the teacher who ran it was a beatnik spinster of a woman, middle-aged and with way too much energy and the brunette suspected was at the very least a bisexual. But Squall got along with her just fine, maybe because she'd once told him a story about her wild streak during the sixties, apparently seeing herself in him or something. He'd sat himself in a seat near the middle of the third row from the stage, upon which Mrs. Munroe sat, smiling brightly as the other students filed in. Most of them sat on the sides of the first and second row, avoiding their infamous classmate as much as they could, some of them glancing at him, whispering and gawking as the story of what had happened at the end of lunch traveled. Squall ignored them, using a pink highlighter to line the character names in the play. He sat silently in his seat, the ankle of his left leg resting on his right knee, moving to a beat no one else could hear as he continued what he was doing, pretending he was alone. 

Seifer was late entering the drama class, slinking into the auditorium while the teacher was speaking from her place on the stage, slipping silently into a seat in the fourth row right off the main aisle. Though the class was in the auditorium, the schedule had listed it as being on the third floor and so he had wandered around aimlessly until finally breaking down and asking a passing student where everyone was for Mrs. Munroe's class. Luckily, the teacher didn't seem the type to take attendance, so he simply sat himself down inconspicuously and pretended as if he'd been there the whole time. He gave the class a quick once over, catching sight of an increasingly familiar head of tousled chocolate brown hair. Squall...

He'd felt like he should say something to the slim male, to somehow apologize or make amends for Gregory's behavior during lunch, but in the end, mostly out of uncertainty, he'd said nothing. Asking how Leonhart was doing would surely give the other boy the impression that Seifer was interested in him more than he was willing to admit and that was the wrong kind of message the blond jock wanted to send. Sure, Squall seemed like an okay guy, albeit one that may or may not attempt to jump his bones at some point, but Seifer had already made it clear that he wasn't interested in the other teen in that way; it would be stupid to make the pretty boy suspect otherwise.

The class composition had been as he'd more or less expected. A small group of quiet, shy-type girls sitting together, larger group of theater guys sitting to the other side, a brave soul or two sitting behind the girls, obviously failing to work up the nerve to say anything to any of them. Squall's presence wasn't quite a surprise, though not quite expected either. He was hard to place as a whole. Seifer was quickly learning that the flirtatious youth was anything, but your standard high school whore. 

Unaware of the jade eyes boring into the back of his head, Squall kept to himself during the entire class, simply reading through the lines he had been given out loud when it was his turn, unbothered by the fact that he had been given a female role to read. He seemed comfortable enough with the old English whilst other students in the class struggled through their respective lines during the reading. His mind was elsewhere, his new mark's presence in the row of seats behind him going completely unnoticed.

Seifer's brows rose as the shorter brunette pulled another surprise out of his hat, breezing his way though some old English that hurt the blond's head just thinking about the prospect of having to read the complicated lines. He snorted quietly, shaking his head a little. Leonhart was a clever one, at the very least, clever enough to make use of the reputation that he had built, turning what had appeared to be a near zero approval into some kind of good thing for himself. Seifer wouldn't have thought it possible to pull off, but there was Leonhart managing it with a balance that simply blew his mind. Obviously, there was more to the lascivious beauty than met the eye.

 

***

 

The following day would be Friday and Squall had been offered a chance to play at a bar, a real gig finally. He really wanted to put the finishing touches on the song he'd been working on earlier in the day so that he would be able to perform it at the show. The bar was one that was fairly popular as far as he knew, though he'd never been there before when it was actually open to the public, only to audition for the opening. He didn't know that it was a place several members of the popular cliques frequented using fake IDs they'd bought with their parents' money. Squall didn't own a fake ID, only allowed to play at the bar because the owner knew who his dad was. He was a bit nervous, but more excited about it than anything. It was a chance to start moving towards his future career, to escape the world he'd been living in up until then. There would probably even be talent scouts there.

As fate would have it, Seifer had been invited to that very same bar by the group he'd met at lunch. He had every intention of attending the outing as well, good PR and all for his integration into the popular crowd. He just hoped that his stature and confidence would allow him to simply walk into the place without identification, otherwise he'd be screwed, having lost his previous fake ID when his father had went through his room after the car accident. He made a mental note to find out where to get a fake just in case.

Seifer didn't drink all that often, not in public anyways. He had a knack for making an ass out of himself when he did drink, unable to stop after a reasonable amount. Generally, his nights of under-aged drinking ended with friends more or less carrying his sorry drunken ass somewhere safe. Usually the safe place was a friend's house where other friends could poke fun at him at their leisure. He had woken up on more than one occasion with a smashing headache and a queasy stomach in an unfamiliar area, requiring a pickup or a ride back to his house to sleep off the hangover. The most recent time being the going away party his friends at his previous school had put together for him the week before. He had sworn off liquor the morning after, suffering through a brutal hangover and several bruises he hadn't recalled receiving. He had sworn the same thing several times in the past, none to any avail.

The anger Squall had carried since his altercation with Gregory slowly ebbed as the class wore on and his thoughts centered around his gig the following evening, the time ticking away at a snail's pace until the final bell sounded. Upon the shrill ringing that signified the end of their day trapped in the institution, students flocked from the auditorium quickly. Seifer scooped up his bag and started on his way out of the auditorium, aiming to check out the cafe Squall had recommended. He figured he had at least an hour to kill before his ride would show up to collect him, so he might as well get himself used to the area around the school and the surrounding eateries. The brunette that had been seated in front of him stood up, head falling back slightly as he stretched cramped muscles before he turned to leave, slate blue eyes finally falling on the boy he had labeled his new target. He grinned, hurrying his pace so he could catch up to Seifer.

"Did you enjoy your first day?" he questioned amicably, stepping up next to the tall blond, appearing as if he'd forgotten all about what had happened at lunch. He wanted to force the other to pay attention to him. The more Seifer had to see and speak to him, the more he'd think about him and that was exactly what Squall wanted.

While his mind was lingering over a certain sultry youth, the phrase 'Speak of the Devil' earned its roots in truth, nearly making Seifer jump out of his skin when the other male had made his presence known, sauntering up next to the larger teen. "Mmm? It was alright I guess," he replied with a shrug, "It's another high school, not really any different than any other. Forced to attend, boring as it may be." The response hadn't been aimed at dismissing the other, on the contrary, Seifer found himself holding open the door for Squall as they departed the auditorium. Squall seemed to put up with a lot from his classmates, something that Seifer didn't particularly care to take part in, granted, he didn't care enough to make a stand to prevent it. He just wouldn't contribute to what was in his opinion, a problem.

Squall smiled at the older boy impishly as Seifer held the door open for him politely. It seemed the scene from earlier had actually helped his cause seeing as the brawny blond was not acting nearly as standoffish as he had been previously. Seifer rolled his eyes at the grin. 'Give 'em an inch,' he thought, though he wasn't really offended, but rather amused by the other male's antics instead. Seifer was unfazed though, moving in sync with Squall through the hall as though nothing had really happened or changed.

"Thanks," Squall said unconsciously as he stepped out into the parking lot gracefully, glancing over his shoulder to see the other male following as he held the door once more.

"It's only as entertaining as you choose to make it," the brunette said in response to Seifer's previously voiced astute opinion of the high school. His hips swayed as they walked, the well worn black denim conforming perfectly to a perfectly sculpted ass.

"Never found myself able to enjoy it. You show up; you're given stuff to do at home; you do it; bring it back; do it again. Can't see where you can get entertainment... I almost cut study hall, but decided against it, finished chem instead. I heard from the gym teacher that you cut again. Seems like a regular thing," the taller youth's tone was inquiring, a single golden brow raised expectantly.

Squall watched the other male as he spoke, breeze ruffling the nest of dark chocolate hair atop his head, actually listening to Seifer's words with some genuine interest. "I cut because that class is the bane of my existence, always full of horny little ninth graders with grabby hands," he grimaced dramatically as he made a groping gesture with his unoccupied hand. "Besides, I've no interest in the clumsy fumbling attempts to get some action from immature children," he sighed, running painted fingers through his hair idly as they approached his car, not bothering to hide his disdain for his ninth grade gym class. He had been stuck in the same class for the last three years, same bullshit, different faces.

Seifer had to bite his tongue to hold back a comment about 'standards.' It would be in poor taste for sure. Still, with looks and a reputation like Leonhart's, hormones as rampant as the ninth graders' would make him a prime target. 'Grabby hands indeed..'. "Gym isn't that bad. Gives me an excuse to exercise. I probably wouldn't otherwise,"Seifer said with a nonchalant shrug and a lopsided smile that gave him a carefree handsomeness that Squall found entirely charming.

"Hm, it's not the actual exercise that bothers me, just the unwanted interest," the brunette replied with a shrug of his own before changing the subject entirely. "You've sure made some useful friends already," he gave the taller boy a knowing look over his shoulder as he referred to the group of jocks Seifer had eaten lunch with. 

Seifer offered another half grin, glancing sidelong at Squall. "My dad's in the congress, registered with the GOP, only works with the Dem's when it's convenient. He taught me that it's not what you know, but who, you know what I mean?" he tilted his head, still looking at the other male from the corners of deep foresty eyes. He figured it would get out soon enough anyway. 

"So you're dad's a politician... No wonder you didn't care for me much. Even our parents are opposites. My dad's an activist and a musician. My mum was too..." Squall paused as though he hadn't meant to say the last few words about his mother. He didn't talk about her. Ever. He covered the awkward expression quickly, replacing it with a smile, "Though I must agree that connections are the real key to success, not education. How else do we end up with idiots like Deling in office?"

He stopped next to his car, unlocking it and tossing his books into the back seat. The interior of the corvette was immaculately clean for being a teenager's car, and one that was known for being loose at that. You'd think the car, particularly the backseat would be well-used. Squall's car was actually nice, though an older model, the paint was new and the upholstery well-taken care of. The corvette had been his mother's and red at one time before it had become his on his sixteenth birthday and his father had had it repainted.

"Yeah. He's not around much really. Politician's are pretty busy. I haven't seen my mom since the divorce," Seifer's good natured smile melted from his mouth as he shrugged. It didn't bother him anymore, or at least that was what he told himself. His dad had suddenly had more money after she'd walked out of his life. Mr. Almasy had focused on his career as if nothing had happened. Seifer, being who he was, with his background, caught Squall's look when he'd mentioned his mother and simply assumed a similar story to his own, if not worse. He wouldn't press him, not being one to pry into the private lives of others. He recognized that look; it was similar to the one that sometimes stared back at him through the mirror. Unwilling to dwell on the past, numbed nerves that he had no desire to bring back to life, instead he grasped onto the other topic, "Don't even get me started. My dad helped put him in office and he still doesn't like that half baked moron. Even in the party, he was only good because he appealed to the right dynamic of voters."

Squall closed the car door and leaned back against it, chuckling as he pulled a crushed pack of cigarettes and a lighter from one pocket of his favourite bomber jacket, placing one to his lips and lighting it. He took a drag as he slouched nonchalantly, in no hurry to be anywhere. "So where are you headed now?" he questioned curiously. 

Seifer didn't smoke usually, too afraid of his father's wrath should he pick up such a habit. "I was just going to loiter around town. The bus doesn't go by my house and my ride won't be able to pick me up until five or later," he replied with a half shrug, "Was thinking about going to that cafe you were talking about." As he spoke, he looked over the sleek corvette. Leonhart's car was impressive really, especially for a seventeen year old. Seifer no longer had a car of his own and the one he had written off had been nowhere near as nice nor as expensive as Squall's was."Nice car."

Squall smiled around his cigarette, offering one to the other male politely. He hadn't been surprised to hear that the other male's dad had been involved in Deling's election. Politicians of like minds all seemed to stick together and help each other climb the political ladder as necessary. He cared little about it really. It made no difference to him; he still wanted to suck Seifer off, maybe let him fuck him too if hot blond played his cards right and kept giving him that roguish lopsided grin.

Seifer took the offered cigarette, figuring it would be rude not to and he couldn't think of any real reason to refuse, even if he didn't generally smoke. It would make it the fifth or sixth he had ever touched. Being that he had only ever smoked a handful of cigarettes in his life, it stood to reason that after he had it lit and took his first hit, he'd cough a bit and be slightly awkward with it between his fingers. He could understand why some people smoked, gave them something to have in their mouth, something to occupy their minds instead of whatever idle thoughts they'd rather not be having. He was similar when it came to puzzles and the like, almost craving that distraction at times.

"Thanks, it belonged to my mother," the smaller boy replied, glancing at the car he leaned on, running reverent fingertips along the top of the door before focusing his cloudy blue-grey eyes back on the blond, figuring he'd already mentioned her once and the older male hadn't asked about her, so it was safe enough to mention her again. Squall gave Seifer an apologetic look when he mentioned how late his ride was going to be. Being stuck without a ride until after five was well, pathetic really. It was only a quarter to three. 

"Hm, I was thinking of stopping there myself. Want a ride? I promise to keep my hands to myself, scouts honor," he promised, raising the mandatory two fingered salute and winking at the other male, using his other hand to flick the ash from his cigarette. 

When Squall easily offered him a ride once more, complete with a vow to keep his hands off, Seifer couldn't help but grin. It wasn't an offer he could easily bring himself to turn down, since chatting with Leonhart had been much more entertaining than hanging out alone outside the school until Mike showed up to collect him. "Sure. Thanks," He said, inclining his head gratefully as he watched the ash flick away, coughing slightly as he took another small drag off his own smoldering stick of tobacco. 

Squall chuckled softly as the other male choked on the cigarette smoke, clearly not an avid smoker as he himself was. "I don't smoke in my car though, so we'll go when we've finished," he said, lifting the cigarette held demurely between his nail polished fingertips to his lips once again and inhaling with practiced ease.

Seifer nodded his understanding about the brunette's no-smoking in the car rule as he blinked watering emerald depths. He cleared his throat before attempting to take smaller puffs of the nicotine laced smoke. Of course, the lesser inhales meant he was smoking about half as quickly as Squall, but he supposed it wasn't as embarrassing as the choking at least. "Yeah, wouldn't want to ruin the interior," he agreed honestly; it'd be a real shame to destroy the interior of a car that nice with cigarette smoke.

"Do you plan on following in your dad's footsteps when you graduate?" Squall questioned idly, watching the broader teen from beneath lowered lashes, cocking his head slightly to let the smoke filter out from between bowed lips away from Seifer's face. He was actually a little interested in the other male, not just for fooling around with either. The other seemed genuinely decent and held the same opinion on high school that Squall did. His unoccupied fingers slid into the waistband of his jeans just the tiniest bit, fingertips resting there against soft skin instead of the tight pocket where his cell phone was as he considered the tall blond boy before him.

Seifer stood there in amiable silence for a moment or two, getting comfortable talking with the other. When Squall asked if he wanted to follow in his father's foot steps, he choked on the cigarette once again, gasping and snorting with laughter. He cleared his throat again. When he'd finally regained his breath, he shook his head. "Not fucking likely. I'd rather eat my own foot," he made a face that clearly showed his disdain for the possibility of having a career in politics like his dad, "I don't think I could handle a desk job like that. I think I'd rather do something like act or model or some shit, you know, something more exciting and less restrictive." He watched wispy tendrils of smoke curl away above them for a second as if he was debating on what else to say. "Don't tell my dad that though. He's already introduced me to at least half the party, already assuming I plan to take after him in a respectable career like his, never mind the fact that I don't care for the policy makers much. Both sides look the same to me." 

Squall's pure laughter rang out at the other male's reaction. It was cute watching him choke on the smoke, already taking smaller drags as most non-practiced smokers did. "I doubt I'll ever meet your dad, so you needn't worry. You're secret's safe with me," he assured, laughter dancing in the stormy irises of his eyes. "As you can imagine, republicans and I don't mix too well," he glanced down at himself. He was the farthest away from being conservative as a person could be.

"I would never have guessed," Seifer replied sarcastically with a smirk. He had assumed as much; standing side by side, it was clear that their upbringing had been miles apart. His ensemble was, for lack of a better word, uptight: dark-washed, boot cut jeans, light blue and white striped polo tee, and a simple black jacket, all of them seemingly recently pressed. "If you took even a step into a party meeting, I think you'd kill at least half of them old geezers if they so much as got a good look at you."

Squall snorted at the blond boy's words about what the party members' reactions would be if he ever sauntered into one of their meetings. "Yeah and the other half would have heart attacks as soon as I dropped to my knees in front of them and asked which wanted to go to heaven first," he said with a chuckle.

Seifer snickered even as he could feel just the slightest burning of heat at the back of his neck; the imagery Squall created was somewhere between amusing and arousing. It would be a quick way to get a new wave of elections going, one way or another. "That's one way to change the world," he said laughingly, trying to shake the picture from his head.

The devilish brunette grinned, "That's me, pushing boundaries and changing lives one BJ at a time," he quipped. It was a strange sort of flirtatious, yet amicably innocent atmosphere between them as all the other students had seemed to evaporate from the school.

Seifer rolled his eyes, shaking his head again. Leonhart had apparently taken his reputation to heart. 'Well, to each his own, I guess,' the elder thought inwardly, pushing any curious thoughts about Squall's skill in that particular area from his mind forcibly. "Whatever makes the world go round I guess," was his outward response, closing the topic. He was hardly aware of the other students as they filed out. Soon enough, it was just the two of them left leaning against the shorter boy's corvette.

"So you'd rather be a performer?" Squall was intrigued by the notion of the seemingly straight-laced jock being something so completely opposite of his upbringing. 

"Well, yeah, I mean I guess so. I want to do something fun, you know. And people on stage always look like they enjoy what they're doing. My dad just seems tired when he comes home. He always says it's worth the stress, that he's content with his life, and maybe he is, but he just seems to be in denial. I don't wanna be miserable like that everyday." 

"I getchyou. Being on stage is..." he bit his bottom lip, trying to find the right words to describe the feeling, "It's like having the best orgasm of your life. It's so exhilarating, like finding cloud nine and then jumping off and free falling without the fear of hitting the ground." He dropped his cigarette on the ground, crushing it under his boot heel before running a hand through his hair once again, a habit of sorts.

"Interesting way to put it," the taller male said, flicking the half burnt cig aside before stepping on it as well. Needing another, safer, topic of conversation, Seifer decided to ask more about Squall's life, figuring it was only fair since he'd shared a bit about his own, "What's your dad do again?" He couldn't recall exactly what Squall had said about his father earlier, but he figured he must have a pretty lucrative job if he could afford to give his son such a nice vehicle. 

"My dad's a musician, used to be in a popular rock band in the eighties, now he's retired and does various things, recording mostly, some songwriting, producing, stuff like that," the younger replied in a decidedly fond tone, shrugging one shoulder, "He's the one who taught me to play guitar." Seifer nodded, taking in the information and filing it away for later. He could see why Squall was as laid back as he was, made sense, being that he had a rock star for a dad.

"Ready to go?" Squall asked, his soft voice breaking into the other teen's thoughts as he ran slim fingers through his feathery chocolate hair once more. 

"Yeah, sure. I'm ready. Is it far?" Seifer's green-eyed gaze followed Squall's hand as it traveled though his hair, watching how the delicate-looking fingers with the finely painted ebony nails moved among the fine strands before he realized what he was doing and shifted his eyes back to the pretty boy's face. He twitched restlessly with a feeling he couldn't place, a sort of itch that he couldn't quite identify. 

"Nah, it's not far, just up the block. I can drop you back off after if you want. I have to come back this way on my way home anyways," he replied, not noticing the eyes that traced his unconscious movement. He straightened up, narrow hips swaying unconsciously as he made his way around to the other side of the car and opened the driver's door, sliding in with a natural feline-like grace. He dug his car keys from one of his pockets, starting the car as he waited for the other boy to get in. They were lucky; it appeared that no one had seen the two of them leaving together, or so it seemed. Squall hoped so, otherwise a whole slew of new rumours would be born overnight and he would lose any chance of even simply hanging out with Seifer, not to mention trying to seduce him.

Seifer pulled the passenger door open after Squall had opened his own. Slipping into the comfortable seat, he pulled the door shut behind him before he adjusted the seat a little bit to accommodate his taller frame, allowing him to recline back and settle in. "Alright, sounds like a good deal to me. If it's just a few blocks away then I can walk back. You don't have to stay, if you don't want to or you know if you had other plans or something," he floundered, feeling pathetic for sounding so needy. It was obvious to him and probably to the other boy too; an indirect invitation to hang out. He'd tried to word it carefully so as to ensure he didn't send the wrong kind of invite, but it was an invitation none the less and he'd been the one to initiate it.

 

TBC...


	4. Empty In Between

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Image. Image. Image.

Squall buckled up before his right arm went over the back of the passenger seat, twisting his body to look back over his shoulder, pulling out of the parking spot. "No worries. I'm gonna get something to eat anyways. I'm frigging starving. I didn't eat at lunch," he replied, seemingly unfazed by the blond's indirect invitation, the trip to the cafe already on his agenda for the afternoon. Staying to eat and then giving Seifer a ride back to the school wasn't really any kind of hindrance for the brunette. Heady guitar chords poured from the speakers in the car, no vocals, just instrumental, which Squall turned down as he drove out of the school's parking lot, the engine purring.

An odd look came over Seifer's face as he turned towards the other boy. "Why'd you skip lunch? I mean, there may not be anything edible here, but you don't seem to be hurting for cash and you obviously know your way around the cafes. You're not like anorexic or something, are you?" Seifer's voice held a note of concern beneath the humour he had tried to place in it. Squall was thin in the blond's opinion, almost too thin, though he definitely had a charm all of his own. Seifer took a moment to look him over in his seat while Squall's eyes were on the road in front of him. Squall Leonhart was dangerously beautiful; he could easily pass as a boyish girl or a feminine boy with the soft chocolate strands of hair brushing his jaw, thick dark lashes the likes of which woman would kill for rimming uniquely stormy eyes and that androgyny made him entirely dangerous for a boy like Seifer. His slim figure was appealing, not too tall for a guy, but almost delicate in a lithe sort of way, feminine hands gripping the steering wheel, the black-lacquered fingernails that were kept fairly long for a guy though nothing like the lengthy claws that women tended to favour tapping along to the heavy guitar rifts; Seifer couldn't look away as he took it all in. Squall was in a category all his own. His style was that of most punk rock bands and it simply suited him, only adding to the already oozing sex appeal. Seifer had to forcibly tear his gaze away when Squall responded to his inquiry.

"Mm, I was busy, so I forgot to," was the nonchalant answer that came from the pretty boy's lips as he gave a half shrug, the implication that it was a common occurrence obvious by the manner in which the brunette had responded. "So is that the reason you're taking drama; 'cause you wanna be an actor?" he asked after a second, changing the subject from his eating habits and creating idle chit chat as he took a right, heading down the block and a half to the coffee shop, getting stuck at the lighted intersection right before the block the cafe was located on. His fingers tapped against the steering wheel to the beat of the music idly, the bracelets on his wrists making soft jingling noises as his hands moved. He rarely stayed still, needing to be moving, tapping a hand or a foot, forever fidgeting to the music in his head.

"Yeah, I kinda want to be an actor I guess. I mean, I'm pretty comfortable in front of people," Seifer said with a shrug of his own before he continued speaking, not ready to let the subject of Squall's poor eating habits just yet, "So why didn't you grab something anyways and just be late to class?" He was sure that the brunette's meal skipping could have easily been avoided, being that Seifer was aware of Squall's habit of being truant during his gym class and he very much doubted that the other teen would have cared if he'd been a bit late to class in order to get a snack.

Squall pressed a booted foot on to the gas pedal as the light changed again, glancing at Seifer from the corners of his eyes "I was still too pissed off to eat," he replied simply, knowing the other male had seen the altercation at the end of lunch.

"Yeah. He was a little out of line there. Does that happen all the time?" Seifer questioned, emerald eyes avidly watching the younger teen once again, deciding now was as good a time as any to find out a little bit more about the striking brunette and maybe find out just how much of the gossip was just that.

Squall shrugged, "Often enough I guess. Usually it's their girlfriends. Girls are much nastier than guys. A girl actually slapped me and called me a home wrecker once. It's not my fault she wasn't any good at giving head," he said with a snort, "As for guys like Gregory, they're all the same. They want it until it's over, then they can't admit it was the best they'd ever had so they have to act like jerks to make themselves feel like they're still men, as if sucking dick makes me less of a guy than any of them."

Before the brawny blond had a chance to respond, Squall had pulled into the asphalt lot belonging to the cafe, parking between the faded yellow lines with practiced ease. Pulling the key from the ignition and unbuckling, he glanced over at Seifer, "Can you grab my wallet out of the glove compartment?"

"Please," he added with a smile, eyes twinkling, catching the sunlight as he looked at the tall blond, mischievous heat lurking in the depths, knowing that the other would see the condoms and lube he kept in there as well. He would have gotten the wallet himself, but it would have involved leaning over the other male's lap and he'd promised to keep his hands off. Besides, Seifer's reaction to the other items in the glove box might be fun.

"Glove compartment; why can't you-- Oh," Seifer began with confusion, interrupting himself as his reasoning quickly followed the same path as Squall's. If the brunette had reached over, his hand would end up in Seifer's lap. 'Clever,' he thought idly. The politeness and the begging tone made him sigh, reaching to open the glove box.

When he opened it up and reached inside to retrieve the requested wallet, he found himself suddenly wide-eyed, mouth dropping open just a little. Inside the glove compartment alongside Squall's wallet and car registration were an excess of condoms and lube. Honestly, how much sex was the slim brunette actually having to facilitate such an amount? "Oh..." he swallowed audibly, uncertain about what to say about the items. It was rather obvious that Squall had purposely asked him to retrieve his wallet just to fuck with him. "Safety first, huh?" he finally commented, clearing his throat, hoping his voice wasn't as shaky as it sounded to his own ears as he gingerly reached inside, feigning nonchalance. He pushed aside some condoms, wrapping his fingers around the wallet before pulling it out, careful to avoid knocking any of the other items out. He avoided the other male's eyes as he offered the smooth black leather wallet to Squall and closed the glove box, sealing the offending items out of sight and hopefully out of mind.

Squall had watched the blond with a sort of amused fascination; he laughed outright as the other teen retrieved his wallet, making an awkward, nervous comment about the other contents. It was like teasing a virgin or something; Seifer seemed too innocent for their age, even though Squall very much doubted that the blond was a virgin by any stretch of the imagination, not with how damn hot he was. "Of course, who'd want to get some gross STD or something from one of those idiots at school?" he replied, getting a kick out of making the other male squirm without really doing anything at all. He took the proffered wallet, soft fingertips brushing against Seifer's for the briefest of moments as the leather wallet exchanged hands.

Making him squirm was one thing, just knowing it was in the car for Squall's immediate use was entirely different. As the wallet was passed off, the lingering touch burned under Seifer's skin long after the other youth had pulled away. "Yeah," he agreed, not really hearing the words the other had said, acutely aware that he couldn't stand up right then, his thoughts having wandered into dangerous territory that Seifer was nowhere near ready to analyze. Boys weren't supposed to get hard thinking about other boys, no matter how pretty they might be.

Unaware of Seifer's discomfort, Squall opened his door, getting out just as gracefully as he'd gotten in, lingering in the opened doorway as he straightened, his ass and legs visible for a few seconds before he turned, leaning back inside, that soft, flowery scented hair falling into his face and the bracelets on his wrists jingling again, "Coming?" Seifer jumped, startled by the sound of the brunette's voice. 

When Squall had gotten out of the car, Seifer's eyes had followed him, unable to avoid getting an eyeful of that pert rear and shapely legs. He gave an involuntary gulp and quickly averted his gaze to the other side. "Yeah, sorry," he apologized awkwardly before slipping out the passenger door. 'Smooth Almasy, real fucking smooth,' the blond thought with a definite air of self deprecation. He adjusted his pants and shirt discreetly before running one hand through his short blond hair as he walked around the side of the car towards the cafe, again finding himself holding the door for Squall.

Seifer gave himself a little shake, deciding it would be best to pick up the previous conversation, thinking it would be safer than the alternative, which was asking the brunette about the items he kept in his glove compartment. "What'd you say to Greg anyways? Stiffened him up like a board," he inquired, clearing his throat inconspicuously after he'd spoken. He watched Squall with bright green eyes, trying to get a read on him. Apparently, Squall was proud his behavior, at least enough to carry on with it even through being slapped and insulted at any rate. 

The brunette flashed the blond a wicked grin, "I told him that I'd post the video of him crying my name like a little bitch while he came in my mouth on Facebook and YouTube for all the world to see. Apparently, he likes being threatened as much as it terrifies him," he quoted, shaking his head at the memory. He raised raised a slim cinnamon brow, noticing how Seifer kept shifting around and adjusting his clothes. 'Hiding something?' he thought though he didn't give voice to it, not having realized how the previous events might have affected the other male. 'No wonder he was spacing out in the car.' He chose not to voice the observation as he turned towards the cafe, smiling over his shoulder as the taller male held the door for him.

A somewhat shocked and impressed look crossed the Seifer's features as he was fed that little tidbit of info. Squall kept videos? That would certainly explain the power he seemed to have. It would definitely shut Seifer up, if he were in Gregory's position. Having that kind of power over someone guaranteed that Squall wasn't treated with blatant violence, if for no other reason than keeping their own reputations intact. He found himself wondering just how many videos the brunette had, but he figured it would be best not to ask.

"You're quite the gentlemen," Squall remarked impishly as he stepped inside the coffee shop, sauntering over to the counter. He smiled at the cute college boy he'd gotten the latte from earlier, watching the other blush and fidget uncomfortably as he asked the pretty youth what he'd like to order looking between Squall and Seifer, obviously trying to discern their relationship.

"Habit, I guess. Besides, I keep beating you to the door, " Seifer teased back. Having long legs and a tall frame meant that when he wanted to go somewhere; he typically arrived quickly; it certainly didn't take much to beat Squall to the door. He adjusted his pants again and when he was fairly sure no one was looking, adjusted something else, hopefuly to keep it from being too obvious and saving himself some very awkward and embarrassing explanation.

"I'm gonna have the grilled greek veggie wrap, and a cranberry juice," Squall ordered quietly, batting his lashes and tapping his fingers on the counter, black lacquered nails making small clicking sounds over the hard top. The guy behind the counter stuttered as he gave the pretty boy his total. Squall smirked at him as he handed him a twenty dollar bill and took his change which the other male very nearly dropped. He leaned over the counter slightly, "Can you put extra dressing on it too?" he asked in a seductive tone, running his tongue along his own plump bottom lip as if he didn't know what he was doing to the other male as the employee nodded, his face beet red. Squall glanced at his companion behind him as the boy behind the counter, Brian according to his name tag, turned to make the wrap which was pretty much premade, just adding the extra Greek dressing before he folded it up and stuck it in the sandwich press to grill, returning with the cranberry juice and setting it on the counter in front of the attractive teenager.

"This place has the best service," Squall commented with a cheeky grin as he stepped aside, drink in hand, leaning a hip against the display case of pastries and other baked goods. Brian's blush intensified, barely managing to ask for Seifer's order.

Squall's order, the Greek veggie wrap sounded seemed tasty, but Seifer found he was in the mood for something else, something with more meat and less 'veggie'. "Hmm," he murmured, eyeing the menu. When the guy behind the counter had collected his wits enough to ask what Seifer would like, he'd already made his choice. "Well, the chicken Caesar wrap looks good," he placed his order casually, watching idly as it too was placed on the grill, "Um, I'll take a cranberry juice as well." He figured the bittersweet drink went with pretty much everything and he wasn't all that picky. He paid as quickly as possible before turning back towards Squall.

Seifer watched with some interest as Brian's eyes went between himself and Squall, lingering on the latter. The brunette's mere presence seemed to be making him blush Squall leaned against the baked goods, seemingly unconcerned with the attention he was being given. It was almost amusing really.

Squall completely ignored the guy ogling him, instead focusing those pretty stormy eyes on Seifer as he ordered a wrap and cranberry juice as well. Squall could feel the eyes lingering on him as Brian blatantly stared at him, apparently content to watch the brunette instead of paying attention to the grill. Stormy depths narrowed, slanting to the sizzling sandwich press. Their wraps were definitely ready. A glare took up residence on the pretty face as he finally looked at the enamored college freshman.

"You gonna let our wraps burn there Brian?" Squall asked sweetly, giving the other male a pointed look, gesturing with one pale slim hand at the grill. Brian blinked several times, abruptly coming out of whatever fantasy he'd been conjuring up in his mind and rushed to get their food before it was ruined. Squall glanced sidelong at Seifer, shaking his head a little, the corners of his lips quirked up in a naughty little grin.

The blushing college kid returned with the delicious smelling wraps momentarily, apologizing profusely. Squall merely waved him off as if he didn't care about the near inconvenience.

"Wanna sit outside?" he asked the tall blond as he took his paper covered wrap and napkins in hand, his attention back on his companion.

The food looked and smelled heavenly. Luckily Brian had gotten a hold of himself before he had burned their food, though that was more because of the Squall's intervention than by a sudden burst of willpower, Seifer suspected. The older youth shrugged in response to the sidelong look Squall gave him. He, himself, had spaced out a bit in the sultry boy's presence, so he couldn't blame Brian.

"Yeah, might as well since it's nice out and all. It'd be a shame to waste it, no?" he agreed to the suggestion. He gestured to the door, waiting for Squall to get it this time. 

The brunette nodded in agreement, leading the way back to the door, using his hip to push it open and waiting for the older boy to exit before he followed after him. It would be a shame indeed since the day was really very nice, probably one of the last decent days to be outside for any length of time before the winter set in and it got too cold.

"There are tables just around the corner," he said gesturing to the right hand side where several small, round metal tables with umbrellas and stools were set up. He moved fluidly as he made his way to one of the tables, straddling one of the stools and setting both his drink and food on the little table. 

"So, did you move here 'cause of your dad's work?" the guitarist asked as he twisted the cap off the bottled juice, taking a sip before licking any excess juice from his lips with a pink tongue.

Seifer's movements weren't quite as fluid as Squall's; with his brawny frame, he wasn't what you'd call graceful though he wasn't exactly clumsy either. Raising his head as a breeze passed, he glanced around the little area as he sat down opposite his brunette counterpart. "Mmhm, his work had us move. The party thought he could swing this district or something like that," he shrugged noncommittally, obviously displeased with the move, "It's happened a few times. Getting integrated into new schools has become a routine." He took a drink of his own juice, looking at Squall over the rim of the bottle before setting it back down and unwrapping the warm wrap from its paper.

"I mean sure, I get the house to myself, but that hardly makes up for it and with the elections coming up this year, I'll probably be bored out of my mind there for the next couple months. I dunno what I'm gonna do for a ride then, if the bus doesn't change routes or I don't get another car, which doesn't seem too promising a scenario after the last one," he said after he had finished unwrapping his food. He very much doubted that either option would happen any time soon. 

"Hm, that's shitty. I was lucky; my dad retired before I ever had to move around. When I was a kid, he'd just go on tour and leave my mom and I at home. He decided it'd be better to retire when--" Squall paused briefly, eyeing Seifer, uncertain about sharing something as personal as what had happened with his mother. He didn't talk about her to anyone. It was too painful.

"When my mom died, so he could take care of me and we wouldn't have to move around while I was still in school. That was right before high school started," he finished explaining after a moment, not giving anymore detail about his mother's death. He unwrapped his own food and took a bite, chewing and swallowing as he watched the other male, admiring the handsome blond as the breeze ruffled his short hair.

Squall looked thoughtful, considering what Seifer had said about the upcoming election and about his dilemma. "I could pick you up and drop you off, if you give me twenty bucks a week for gas, if you want, I mean. You know my rep after all," he offered after a few moments deliberation, making the offer without an ulterior motive. He was rather enjoying hanging out with the jock and wouldn't mind making the chase last just a little longer. 'Might be nice for a change...'

Seifer winced sympathetically when Squall spoke about his mother. He had been right about Squall's dad being a single parental figure, though he hadn't been expecting something as extreme as death to be the reasoning behind it. Apologizing to the brunette wouldn't bring her back and so he didn't give the generic apology in response to the statement. An extra twist of pity got to his gut as he remembered some of the rumours he'd heard about the other teen. They had started right about the time Squall had entered as a freshman, which would have been right around the time he had lost his mother. He didn't know the full story, nor did he really feel that he needed to, but he suspected that these outside events had something to do with the way Squall had chosen to deal with the situation. Perhaps there was more to it, either way, it seemed to Seifer that the reputation was probably poorly earned.

"Twenty dollars a week? Sounds fair," Seifer agreed with an idle nod, ignoring Squall's comment about his infamous reputation. Even if he had to put up with the flirty brunette, the offer was too good to pass up. With Squall giving him a ride, he would get home at a decent hour and wouldn't have to be picked up by his dad or by Mike. Plus, it would provide him with an acceptable excuse to hang out with Squall Leonhart again, which against his better judgement, he found he very much wanted to do. He would still be by himself for several hours a day, but it was better than nothing. He was willing to take the offer at face value, since Squall had proved to be nothing, but chaste during their encounter thus far. He'd kept true to his word and hadn't laid so much as an unwanted finger on Seifer. Aside from the subtle and not so subtle flirting, their outing had been completely innocent, just two guys getting a bite to eat after school.

Squall had been relieved Seifer hadn't asked further about his mother or responded with the obligatory apology that he so often had heard before; he simply didn't comment on his mother's death at all. It just pissed Squall off when people apologized to him for her death. They didn't even know the circumstances. They just apologized so freely, thinking it was polite when it just made it worse in the young man's opinion. It was part of the reason he rarely told anyone about her at all. What was the point if they didn't even really mean what they said in response?

"Alright. You'll have to let me know when you want me to start picking you up," he replied, a little surprised that Seifer had agreed to the arrangement without any bartering or conditions. Squall smiled genuinely, the expression softening something in those smoky twilight depths. Apparently, he'd done something right in order to change Seifer's impression of him just a little. He took a drink of his juice before eating some more of the wrap, getting full quickly, even though he'd been starving when they'd arrived.

Seifer's wrap was steadily shrinking as Squall picked at his while they talked. "Yeah. It'll be about a month yet, so don't worry about it. I'll keep you posted." He caught the rare smile that had lit up on the other boy's face and found himself returning it in kind, flashing Squall his devastatingly handsome lopsided grin once again. That grin was starting to do funny things to the brunette's heart and he wasn't sure if he should be worried or not.

Squall blinked, breaking his stare to wrap up the last third of his late lunch before he leaned a cheek on the palm of his right hand. "You know, people might spread shit about you too if I'm acting as your chauffeur," he said after a moment, the thought having just occurred to him. It was only fair that he give the blond warning of that possibility. For once, Squall was actually a little regretful of his reputation. It could potentially ruin this chance for him.

When Squall set aside the rest of his wrap, Seifer was just polishing off the last of his own, crumpling up the wrapping as Squall spoke. "T'ch, I'm willing to trade a few whispers in the halls for a ride home. Besides, what will they have to whisper about? The Republican's son getting a ride home after school by the shady homosexual with the corvette? Like really, who's going to believe that we're doing anything more than that? Pfft, several guys know I need the ride, but not a single one offered," he said, scoffing at the implication. Sure, there would probably be some ridiculous rumours and alleged sightings of nefarious acts between he and Squall, but they would be flimsy at best.

Squall sucked on his bottom lip, worrying it between perfect white teeth. He didn't think the whispers would be the kind the other wanted to have following him, but he didn't try to argue with Seifer about it. If the brawny jock said he could handle it, Squall wasn't about to push the issue; he'd wanted to be the one to drive Seifer after all. He snorted, "Of course they didn't offer. Most of them have to drive their mom's minivans if they even manage to get them for the day."

The brunette pulled out a cigarette and lit it, taking a hit off it before resting his hand on the table as he exhaled smoothly, leaving the pack on the table in between them in case the other male wanted to try his hand at smoking once again. He dug his cell out of his pocket and checked the time. It had only been little over an hour altogether, leaving Seifer with at least another whole hour before his ride would show up.

"You want me to take you back to the school now or you wanna go somewhere else?" he questioned, willing to spend a little more of his free time chatting and hanging around if the other wanted to. He could always play guitar or something if they waited at the school or went to the nearby park. Otherwise, he'd just head home and finish up his song for the following night's performance.

Seifer passed on the cigerette, figuring he'd already made enough of a fool out of himself trying to finish the first one. Trying again would just be a waste of Squall's smokes. He used the time the pretty boy spent smoking to finish up his drink, crushing the bottle and tossing it in the recycling bin next to the one for trash where he deposited the wrapping from his food. He had been raised with manners if nothing else and not littering had simply become a habit over the years.

"What else is there to do here in town?" he asked curiously. Other than the McDonald's, the high school, the bar he'd been told about, and now the cafe, there didn't seem to be much else around. Sure, the place had that 'small town charm' or whatever, and was obviously picked by his father to keep him out of trouble, but it didn't serve to dispel the creeping boredom he had toward the place. Squall was by far the most exciting thing he come across yet.

Squall placed one painted fingertip to his lips as he considered the other activities that were often favoured by the teenagers in the somewhat small community. "Well, there's the park, the mall, the theater or the arena if you like watching hockey," he counted off, closing one blue-grey eye as he took another drag off his cigarette. He didn't go to the movies often and when he did, he went alone to the matinee show to avoid his peers; he'd never been to the arena to watch a game and only went to the mall when he needed to shop since he didn't find it particularly amusing to mull about in the food court or wander from shop to shop, just looking around; it irritated him. As he thought about it, he considered that he might actually not mind seeing a movie with Seifer sometime. They seemed to be getting on fairly well, which was rather surprising, since the jock had obviously heard the rumors and clearly knew he was well within Squall's sights. The brunette wasn't about to complain though; he was rather enjoying their interaction even as pure as it was.

As they got to know each other more, Squall was becoming a little weary. He'd only wanted to fool around with Seifer, just like all the others on the long list, but he was actually starting to like the other teen, which was cause for concern in his mind. Squall didn't do friends, figuratively and literally.

He leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the table as he smoked, flicking the ash idly as he mulled over his thoughts. It was fun teasing the blond, but if he wanted to actually be friends with the other male, fooling around with him was out of the question. 'Ugh, why'd he have to have such a nice fucking smile?'

"Perhaps. Well, I've got another hour to kill," Seifer said with a shrug. It wouldn't kill him to hang out with the pervy little brunette a little longer. He picked one of the options at random. One hour was too short for a movie, and he doubted there was anything exciting going on at the arena at the moment, the park would be alright, but it would be getting chilly soon as the day wore on. The mall seemed boring, but it seemed the most logical of the list. "Mall?" he suggested casually. Squall didn't seem half bad, though there was a little voice in the back of Seifer's head that was desperately concerned about just how invested he was in having a friendship with the oddly alluring boy across from him. He had made it a point not to get too heavily associated with the 'rejects' and the like, yet here he was, chatting amiably with the talk of the school and it seemed like Squall wasn't even trying too hard to get into his pants. That little voice tried to tell him it was just another way for the brunette to weasel his way in, but Seifer chose to ignore it.

Where Squall was worried about getting closer to him in ways that could undoubtedly hurt the brunette, Seifer was worried about keeping his newly formed reputation intact and the more he dwelt on it, the louder that little voice got. He knew how their peers were; if he spent too much time with Squall, he would no doubt end up as ostracized at the other teen. That was his main concern. After all, the right kind of connections were everything.

"'Kay, we can do that. It's not all that exciting though, just warning you now," the dark-haired youth said, nodding as he stood up, turning towards the direction of his car as he flicked the mostly finished cigarette away. He stretched slim arms above his head languidly, revealing the tattoo on his lower back once more, before his shirt covered it once again, arms back at his sides.

"It's not really that far away from here either; nothing really is. The school's pretty much in the middle of the whole town," he remarked, glancing back at the other male before collecting his leftovers, wallet and his unfinished drink before stepping off the patio towards his car. He dug the keys from his pocket once again, hitting the unlock button on the remote. The corvette gave a little yip, announcing that it had been successfully unlocked. He stuck the leftover wrap in the backseat next to his notebooks, closing the door and opening his own, still holding his drink and wallet in one hand as he waited for Seifer to get in before he followed suit.

The dark ink on Squall's pale skin showed in blatant contrast, drawing Seifer's eye when the youth had stretched. It could only have been a tattoo; he was certain of it. The blond couldn't help but wonder about it and made a mental note to ask the other boy about it. Squall was just full of surprises. "Yeah," he acknowledged, flicking his eyes back up and away from Squall's back. Even after the tattoo had been covered once again by the brunette's shirt, Seifer's jade-eyed gaze had lingered there until Squall had spoken and begun moving. Seifer jogged unnecessarily to catch up with his new acquaintance as he made his way to his corvette. "But what else can I do for the hour? I can hardly walk home," he added as an afterthought.

"Small towns are all like this. Rarely anything interesting happening," he remarked casually, clearly having lived in other small townships before. He slid into the passenger seat once more and waited for Squall to slip in before he posed the nagging question about the tattoo. "Not many high school kids have tattoos; when'd you get yours?"

"True enough. Nothing of interest happens in small towns. That's why I can't wait to get out of here," the slim boy said as he slid into the driver's seat, sticking the key into the ignition as he closed his door. He buckled his seat belt, settling the juice between his thighs. The same strains of guitar filled the car as he turned the key, starting the corvette. He held his wallet out to Seifer, asking idly "Can you stick that back in the glove box?"

"Hm?" he replied belatedly to the blond's inquiry, confused by the unexpected question regarding the inking on his back. It took him a second to realize that the other must have glimpsed the tattoo when he'd stretched or bent over or something earlier. "Got it for my fifteenth birthday, so like a little over two years ago I guess. It was a gift from my dad," he said, reaching over Seifer's seat in the same motion as he had before, pulling out of the parking spot. He gave the taller boy a sidelong glance, raising a thin brow, "You like?"

Seifer took the wallet, sticking it back in the glove box without comment as he listened to Squall talk. He'd known what to expect inside the glove compartment, so he didn't freeze up out of shock again. He tossed it unceremoniously over the condoms (there really were quite a lot of them) before closing it up, a slight shade of pink in his ears as he dismissed the thought. Foresty green focused on the road as the heat faded from his ears.

"Maybe. I only saw a few black lines of it earlier, so it's hard to say," he replied noncommittally, unable to give a definite affirmation without seeing the rest of the tattoo in question. The side glance Squall gave him as he backed out of the parking lot made him feel guilty, hearing an accusation that just wasn't there, as if he had been caught doing something sinful. "Why did you want a tattoo?" He hadn't ever really thought about getting one himself because he had no clue what he would get even if his father would allow him one.

"Hn, maybe I'll let you see the whole thing sometime, if you play your cards right," the brunette commented with a sly wink as he began driving further away from the school towards the mall. "It's in memory of my mum. She had one similar. There's a line of lyrics from one of my dad's songs too, though you probably couldn't see that much," he explained easily, humouring the other boy's curious questioning. He wondered why it was that it seemed easy to talk about his mother to the other male. Maybe it was because Seifer hadn't given him that pathetic feigned sympathy that most gave when they were confronted with a person's death. Lacquered fingertips pattered against the steering wheel unconsciously to the humming guitar chords playing in the background of their conversation.

He took a left at the next intersection, weaving through the afternoon traffic, clearly comfortable behind the wheel. "Why so curious? You planning on getting one or something?"

Seifer shrugged one shoulder, taking in the explanation, his curiosity being sated for the time. "No, just a few lines, not much at all," his response seemed more to himself than to Squall as his eyes went unfocused for a moment or two, Squall's cheeky wink totally lost on him at the time. He hadn't seen anyone with a tattoo on their entire back before and he could imagine that it had likely hurt a lot, which said a whole lot about Squall; he certainly wasn't some wimpy little gay boy, that was for damn sure, between the tattoo and what he'd witnessed earlier in the day during Squall's encounter with Gregory, Seifer wasn't too keen on crossing the lithe brunette. Seifer nodded along with the music unconsciously as Squall effortlessly guided them through the streets of the town. He seemed to come back to the present when Squall spoke up once again.

"Well, maybe. My dad would probably kill me though and I don't know what I would even want to get," he replied belatedly, trying to appear as though he had been considering his answer. His dad would kill him if he ever did any of several things; get a tattoo, let his grades fall under a 3.0, borrow the car, cut class and any number of other things his father considered rebellious or unbecoming for his son. Of course, kissing another boy was probably on that top of that list followed closely by hanging out with homos. Uptight was a profoundly astute description for Alexander Almasy.

"Hm. Something tribal would probably look pretty hot, maybe on your upper arm or on your shoulder blade or something," Squall observed coolly, glancing over at the taller jock for a moment before dragging his eyes back to the much less interesting street in front of him.

"What daddy dearest doesn't know won't hurt him. Why not get one somewhere he won't see it? Besides when you're eighteen, he'll have pretty much lost his power over you, right?" the brunette said, making another right, the mall now within their view a couple blocks ahead on their left. It was difficult for Squall to imagine what it was like to live Seifer's life, to have such restrictions placed on him. Squall would have become a run away ages ago if that had been his life, he was sure. It made him appreciate his own father's laid back and easygoing manner all the more. "Does your dad get to control every aspect of your life? Are you even allowed to get laid?" He asked, feeling a little miffed at the politician on Seifer's behalf. It was pretty telling when Seifer was even reluctant to bring up his future career choice with his uptight father.

The blond looked taken aback as Squall came up with a tattoo that would most likely appeal to him so quickly, then again, he supposed Squall had probably checked him out several times already. That fact didn't bother him nearly as much as it should have though.

Seifer shrugged, too embarrassed to admit to the younger brunette that he was, in fact, already eighteen. He was just so used to the constant intrusions into his life that he hadn't thought to simply go against his father's will; it just seemed like such a hassle. Most of his apparel could be summed up in polos and dark jeans, all of which were father approved; he would fit right in at the 'fraternity' his dad insisted he would be joining once in college. It made him cringe inwardly, feeling distinctly foolish for being so powerless against his overbearing father when he was sitting next to the damn epitome of teenage wet dreams and glorious freedom. "I could I guess, but then I'd have to listen to him bitch about how disappointed I made him for the rest of my damn life, I swear," the blond said through a frown before he paused for a long moment.

"Well, actually he kinda does, when he's around anyways," he the first of Squall's questions, looking out the window at the passing cars and the surrounding area before he answered the other, if for no other reason than to avoid Squall's questioning stare. He took a long moment before answering quietly, "He would rather I didn't. It's not exactly Christian, you know what I mean?"

Squall gave a hollow chuckle. "I wasn't being serious. God, your dad actually wants you to be chaste, like as in waiting until marriage or some shit? That's so... Archaic," he said with a decidedly sarcastic tone before sighing, "Then again, I suppose it's better than turning out like me, huh?" The question didn't really require an answer as it was obvious what the answer would be.

"Yeah. He probably would have preferred I didn't even know about the birds and the bees until my wedding night. Perfectly innocent, upstanding son and a bitch wife who abandoned us both. Sympathy voters and values voters all at once, I guess," Seifer muttered darkly, bitterness seeping into the words unconsciously. He had gotten an earful of it when he had been caught with a girl in his room once, not that they had really gotten all that far to begin with. He hadn't even enjoyed it that much which was the real bummer. It hadn't ended up being worth the verbal lashing he'd received from his dad. He perked up suddenly, grinning at Squall's comparison between the two of them, so completely opposite. The brunette had a point and a bit of humor about his rep apparently which served to pull Seifer out of dark memories. Somewhere in the back recesses of his mind, he wondered if sleeping with Squall would be worth it. 

"Hm, you've got it pretty rough; you should try to let loose once in a while," Squall suggested, changing the subject as he turned into the plaza that held the shopping mall, finding a spot as quickly as possible and pulling into it. He didn't leave the car right away when they arrived at the mall, sharp eyes catching on a familiar group of jocks and cheerleaders, including Gregory and Rinoa, the girl Seifer had been eyeballing eagerly earlier that day. He didn't say anything about the group, just sat in his car, watching them, waiting for some kind of cue from the brawny boy next to him.

Seifer moved to get out of the car then stopped short as he saw his football friends and the cheerleader girls grouped together outside the entrance. He flopped back down in his seat, realizing belatedly that Squall had quite obviously seen them too. "Ah..." his voice trailed off quietly, uncertain what more could be said, when he and the brunette both were clearly thinking the same thing. Both his and Squall's hesitance was a fair indication of their similar thoughts.

Squall felt awkward for the first time in a long time, knowing the other male didn't really want to be seen hanging out with the likes of him. It would surely ruin whatever reputation the blond had been building whilst attending their school. He inhaled a deep breath, letting it out in a heavy sigh. "Guess the mall's a bust. Well, at least you know where it is now. You wanna head back to the school?" he asked, not looking at the other male. He was a bit pissed off, mostly at himself and at the injustice of society's views of what was and was not acceptable. Squall's lifestyle was unacceptable in the eyes of people like Seifer's father and others like him, their children too. He sucked on his lower lip, tapping his foot, annoyed with the whole situation, having put a damper on his outing with the handsome jock. This was why they couldn't be friends. 'Who am I kidding?' he questioned inwardly.

"Yeah. Back to the school then, I guess," Seifer agreed while rebuckling his seat belt, guilt creeping along under his skin. Squall seemed like a nice enough kid, but really, they didn't run in the same circles; they couldn't even if they tried. He wanted to be a high achiever, get into the best college he could, make his father proud; get a real job and maybe act somewhere as a hobby, marry a nice good girl and have some little baby Almasys. It was a life his father would hopefully approve of, even if Seifer thought it a bit boring and structured. He only hoped he wouldn't be too miserable having to be the one living it. He wasn't to know that the very lifestyle that his dad had taught him was ideal was going to drive him completely mad. He had his reputation on the line. Squall would understand, probably. The moment was just as awkward for Seifer as it was for his brunette opposite and he wished he could come up with something diplomatic to say to Squall to make it a bit better. He didn't think there were any words that could make the situation any less than exactly what it was. 'Besides, I'm not Squall's type, too uptight, a bit too straight and way too focused on my reputation. And it'd take me ages to get past all that anyways. Too much work,' he justified in his head, even though he knew somewhere inside that he was making excuses just to make himself more comfortable with what he was thinking and doing. He wasn't sure what he was trying to convince himself of, that he really wasn't Squall's type or that he didn't want to be Squall's type.

The brunette's jaw twitched and instead of agreeing verbally, he merely gave a curt nod, starting his car once again, reversing before driving out of the parking lot. It wasn't fair that this had happened. It should have been simple. He shouldn't have offered to go to the cafe with Seifer or offer to chauffeur him in the coming months or anything else after that. Now, he liked him. It should have been simple; teasing Seifer, seducing him, fooling around and nothing more. No fuss, no muss, just instant pleasure and then nothing. But it was too late now and he was surprised that it hurt, especially considering how guarded he had been keeping himself over the years. A pained expression flickered across pretty features, really too beautiful for a guy. The look was gone as quickly as it had appeared on his face when they stopped at the red light.

He had nothing to say now, shocked silent by his own realization that he'd broken his own rules, rules that were in place to avoid just this situation. He didn't need friends. You couldn't be hurt if you were alone, if you never let anyone in. 'I even talked about my mother... Fuck, this is a mess,' he thought irately, running pale, slim fingers through his hair, suddenly in desperate need of a cigarette... or two.

He didn't have friends because you couldn't fuck friends. If you did, things got complicated. Seifer could only be what was considered a friend now and Squall didn't know how to go about removing that title from the other boy in a quick and easy method. He wanted to kiss him, to fool around, but it was more than that now and that scared the shit out of him. 'I'll just pretend... I'll go back to normal tomorrow. I'll flirt with him and tease him, but I won't touch him...It'll be as if this never happened. I'm not gonna fall for him, that's all there is to it.'

Seifer suddenly felt completely exposed and out of place in Squall's car, the amiable atmosphere that had been between them replaced with a strained silence. His eyes focused outside, trying to look at anything, but the pretty boy, his hand kneading his own leg unconsciously. Boys like Squall; they were trouble anyway. The blond had started something kind of nice with Squall and he'd even been offered transportation in the coming months. It could work for him if he played it right, but he didn't like hurting other people, not intentionally anyhow. He needed a drink. 'What a damn mess.'

He sighed heavily, breath making the window next to him fog up slightly. He would have to make this up to Squall sometime later somehow, that was assuming the beautiful brunette would even be willing to speak to him again after he'd so obviously chosen his reputation over Squall's company. 'Damned self image,' he cursed inwardly. They would have been just fine if there'd just been no one there.

It was then that he realized, with the taste of bile rising on his tongue that he would have picked his reputation anyway because even if there hadn't been that group there, there would always be someone to see them together and make assumptions.

'Well Damn...'

He had found a less than superficial friend, one that he could actually see himself getting close to, trusting even and it turned out that he was the worst kind of people to associate with in the name of image alone.

Squall stayed silent the entire ride back to the school, unable to think of the right words to say, unable to fake a flirty smile and make a move on Seifer. The only sound in the car was the melancholy chords of guitar playing out of the speakers. Squall's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel as the notes he'd composed and played, recorded and burned made his eyes cloud with unshed tears. 'I will not cry about this... I am the one that wanted it this way...I am not lonely... I don't need friends... I don't need him...I don't...'

Finally, they pulled up to the school. It was just passed four thirty and Squall didn't think he could spend any more time in the other boys company, not until he had had a chance to collect himself. Tomorrow would be better. He chewed a plump bottom lip as he stopped at the front of the school.

"I can't stay, but it's been real," he said, turning guarded slate eyes towards Seifer, smiling as if he were perfectly fine, though it didn't reach the rest of his face. "Lemme know if you ever wanna let loose. I'll come pick you up anytime," he said, winking at the other male.

After what had seemed like eternity to Seifer, the corvette had pulled up in front of the school. Squall gave him a send off, albeit a distanced and chilly one compared to how he'd spoken with him at the cafe. Apparently he had fouled up badly. The smile seemed forced, but at the very least, he seemed to be okay, if not a little cold. A flirty wink and an open invitation was what he'd expected and he wasn't disappointed when Squall ended with just that. It all just served to make him feel like more of a douche.

With a guilty nod, Seifer slid out of the car. "Ha, I'll keep it in mind," he tried to laugh, to give the impression that nothing had changed when it clearly had, simply giving the brunette a two fingered salute before moving out of the way. He stood on the curb closest to the bus stop, watching Squall's car speed off with another heavy sigh. He had a thirty minute wait and he was pretty certain it was going to be the longest thirty minutes of his entire life.

"Well, I fucked that one up," he muttered to himself as he sat down on the grass lawn, running a large, tanned hand through the short spun gold of his hair and waiting dejectedly for his ride to show up.

Squall went home in a pissy, depressed mood, annoyed and angry at himself and Seifer and life in general. Once he'd gotten home, he'd waved his father off when he'd asked how his day had been, his guitar slung over one slim shoulder haphazardly. His father had given him an understanding look and didn't pry, accepting his son's obvious intention to be alone.

The dark-haired youth spent the night pouring over the songs he would play at the bar the following night, neglecting to eat once again, too engrossed in his work to even notice the rumble of his stomach. It was far into the wee hours of the morning by the time he finally stopped and crashed. When he didn't get up on time in the morning, his father peered in at him. Leaning in his son's doorway, Laguna watched Squall silently, curled up surrounded by crumpled, scribbled pages containing notes and lyrics, still fully clothed, looking rumpled and forlorn with dark circles under his eyes. He'd obviously had a rough night. The long-haired older man gave a half smile, reminded of himself in his younger years, staying up all night to work on his music until he'd drained himself. Instead of waking him for school, he let Squall sleep. He had a big night ahead of him after all; he could probably use the rest.

The evening ritual for Seifer went as follows: go home, see dad, sit through interrogation masked as conversation about his day in the most superficial way he could, check Facebook and add the jocks and cheerleaders, and finally go to bed. It was easy really; he'd done it a thousand times already. The only thing was that out of those thousand times, he'd only met Squall Leonhart just once and that made all the damn difference in the world for some reason. The following day, he was definitely going to apologize to the brunette, had decided to dress up for it and rehearsed what he would say simply because he couldn't think of any other way to make amends. He slept like shit that night.

To his surprise, the infamous brunette was not at school, nowhere to be seen. Both classes they shared lacked Squall's presence. Even when he'd went out looking for him over lunch at the cafe and in the parking lot, there was not a single sign of him to Seifer's immense disappointment. His friends were the football jocks, so it was with them that he hung out during breaks and at lunch and in gym class, getting reminder about the trip to the bar with all of them that evening. One of them had even taken the liberty of procuring a fake ID for him.

It worked out well for Seifer thanks to another weekend trip on his father's behalf. His father had left early that morning, complete with the 'Be good. Don't let me hear about any trouble' and 'I'll have Mike check in on you so be home safe!' It was bullshit really, all of it. It was all an act his father put on, using Seifer as a pawn for his career, good PR and all that. Still, he tried to make the best of it and after school, he met up with a bunch of the football guys just as they'd all agreed. Gregory was there, boasting that he had 'taught the little faggot a lesson' to restore himself after the episode the day before. It was all a lot of shit of course, since Seifer had been with Leonhart after school the day before, but he didn't correct the other. Seifer just smiled and nodded instead, satisfied that the brunette and himself had escaped notice during their out the previous afternoon. 

He had even managed to get an in with the Rinoa, spending a good portion of his day making light passes at her and receiving them in exchange. By the time the last bell had sounded, they were officially a beta couple and the deciding factor would be how things went at the bar. It would be simple and he wouldn't be expected to fuck her right away either, which was a perk of sorts. Queen bitch she may be, but school whore she most certainly was not.

Even without Squall actually present at the school, he seemed to be a hot topic, Seifer noticed. The other students talked just as much about him while he wasn't there as they did when he was, maybe more so even. It seemed that though Squall had only skipped school a handful of times on account of 'work injuries', it was suspected and assumed that that was what the brunette was getting over.

It was now that Seifer realized exactly how much truth there was to the rumours and how much was simply speculation and fabrication. It was pretty clear to him that the rumour surrounding Squall's absence was a flat out lie as Seifer knew for a fact that the other youth would have had to work awfully quickly to get a guy in bed after spending so much time after school with Seifer himself.

Lost in his thoughts after school, he mechanically told Mike that he had a ride and not to worry about him; he'd just call him if he needed anything. He was pulled along for the ride with his new 'friends'.

Squall hadn't been exaggerating the previous day; everything was near the school, Seifer realized as the group made their way to the bar. The bar was quite literally just down the street opposite to the direction of the cafe he had visited the afternoon before. Needless to say, Seifer and Co. were lightly buzzed before five o' clock even rolled around and thoughts of the sultry brunette seventeen year old had faded to the back of Seifer's mind with every sip of alcohol he took. He had never been so god damned thankful for the mind numbing effects of liquor in his whole life.

 

TBC...


	5. Straight No Chaser

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Should've. Could've. Would've.

Squall was nervous in spite of his confidence in his talent. He'd arrived at the bar, being admitted with his guitar through the back door so that he could prepare for his show. His dad couldn't make it, had a business meeting he'd already postponed twice and couldn't get out of a third time. He'd left his son with words of luck and reassurances that the songs Squall had chosen were perfect; Laguna was proud of him.

He released a heavy sigh in the wings of the small stage that was set up for promised live music and karaoke when the bar decided to have it. The seventeen year old was dressed to kill, wearing a black silk vest with nothing under it, showing a large portion of midriff as well as a portion of creamy white chest, his pierced navel and part of his tattoo visible, a simple silver cross necklace hanging down his slim torso, resting over prominent collar bones. Black leather bands buckled around his biceps and numerous silver bangle bracelets lined both bony wrists. His legs were covered by black leather pants that looked as if they might have been painted on, they molded to his frame so well, accentuating a perfect ass, two thick, studded belts crossed loosely over his pelvis, held up by shapely hips, heavy black knee-high boots with silver buckles covered slim calves. His hair was styled in a purposely messy fall of deep chocolate brown locks, wax holding the choppy pieces up at odd angles and black eyeliner made stormy depths pop from beneath dark lashes.

He held one of his guitars at his hip, the strap resting comfortably on his shoulder. He'd been too nervous and excited throughout the day to think much about the night before and had effectively pushed the tall blond out of his thoughts. It was just before nine o'clock when the owner announced him as the next act and he sucked in a breath, letting it out shakily before he stepped out onto the stage to a nearly full house. Being one of only two bars in the whole town, they were rarely not busy on the weekends, especially on Friday nights when this particular bar offered live music, both local and out of town talent. It was fairly common for talent scouts to show up on Friday nights every few months. Squall hoped that they would be there on this particular Friday.

Squall's father had offered to have him produced by a friend and former producer, but the youth had refused, saying it wouldn't feel right if he couldn't do it on his own, to which Laguna had simply smiled and gave him a hug, pride evident in both gestures.

A stool sat in the middle of the brightly lit stage and Squall walked out to it, seating himself gracefully, legs slightly spread apart to accommodate his guitar as he waited for his cue. A stage band had set up behind him, already given the background music for his show. There was a slight flicker out of the corner of his eyes; his cue to begin. He took a breath, eyes closing against the crowd and the bright lights, a thrill running through him as the band started up behind him and his own practiced fingers plucked the first chords; he began to sing in a clear, husky, beautiful voice that carried out into the bar, quieting most of the static conversation as patrons turned to listen to the youth as he began to sing the first lines of the melancholy tune.

"When we die, we go into the arms of those who remember us," the brunette took a soft inhale of breath before he continued, deep, cloudy depths opening, seeking the audience through the blinding lights of the stage, "We are home now. Out of our heads... Out of our minds... Out of this world...Out of this time..."

Seifer choked on his drink when his green eyes caught on the sight of Squall Leonhart sauntering out onto the stage, pointed out to him by his group only minutes after he'd noticed the other boy himself. The tall blond wondered exactly what Squall had done to get here and why he was dressed in quite that way, though if he thought about it long enough, he could understand. He recognized the guitar, having seen it in the brunette's company before at school. Sure, he'd thought from the few chords he'd heard then that Squall had been pretty good with the instrument, but to be playing an actual show at an actual bar on a Friday night seemed like something most kids their age only dreamed of. 

The other jocks had called out a few jeers at the sight of the slight brunette as he sat himself on the provided stool, but Seifer was too busy staring to join in. The outfit didn't leave much to the imagination and what it did leave, his mind quickly filled in. That glimpse of ink gave the youth a bit of mystery while the obvious make up enhanced the color of his eyes making them much deeper; even from the few foot distance, Seifer found he could easily lose himself in their depths.

As if his appearance weren't enough, Squall had then started playing and singing, backed up by the band placed behind him. Seifer was mesmerized by the sight and sound, the noise from his friends and the audience around him fading to a dull buzz as he drowned in the husky tones of Squall's voice. 

"So we move. We change by the speed of the choices that we make and the barriers are all self-made... That's so retrograde," the thick veils of dark lashes hid the beautiful blue-grey depths once more as the younger teen continued on with his soft tone, breathing with practiced ease as his voice carried over the crowd tapering off into a few chords of music before his voice picked up again, "Are you drowning or waving? I just need you to save me... Should we try to get along? Just try to get along..."

Seifer was struck by the words Squall sang sitting up there on that lonely stool. "I am alive. I'm awake to the trials of confusion we create. There are times I feel the way we're about to break, when there's too much to say..." The blond swallowed unconsciously, drink dangling from numb fingers, forgotten.

"We are home now. Out of our heads... Out of our minds...Out of this world...Out of this time..." Squall's voice was filled with emotion that Seifer could not begin to fully fathom, though it pulled inside of him in a way the annoying whisper in the back of his mind cringed at. "Out of this time..." the beautiful, albeit sad song finished with a short string of soft chords and Squall gave a small, saddened smile as he opened those pretty eyes once more to scan the crowd he couldn't really see. After a moment that seemed to Seifer, to last an eternity, the brunette stood from his stool, already preparing for the next song he'd prepared.

The music started up before Seifer had had any sort of chance to recover from the previous song, the new chords having an entirely different sound preceding the lyrics as Squall opened his mouth once more, "This home; these lights, a vision of my destruction. This life of mine, a prison of my construction." As he began to sing, so he began to move on the stage fluidly as if his body was moving entirely on it's own and maybe it was. As the beat picked up, the lithe brunette continued to sing and move, crossing the shiny wood surface of the stage he performed upon. "So with my hands in my pockets and a hole in my soul, burn this house to the ground and hit the road. Say oh Lord, here we go; I'm making my way down to Mexico..."

There was a comment from one of the people Seifer had come with, but he didn't catch what it was, eyes and ears still completely focused on the beautiful vision moving along the stage. Squall was a natural, his performance flawless, as if he had been born for no other purpose, but this. The way he danced was like sex. It should have been r-rated, though Seifer couldn't be sure if it was meant to be so damn erotic or not. The brunette seemed unaware of his own languid movements as sultry hips swayed in time with his music, his fingers flying deftly along the strings of his guitar. "This heart; these lies, decisions of my destruction. Across the lines, no limit to my corruption..." Seifer's mouth went dry as Squall fell back into the chorus once more, his body moving with electric grace. The blond managed to take a sip of his drink, the taste entirely lost on him as emerald remained glued to the androgynously gorgeous creature on stage over the rim of his glass.

The brunette's voice went up a couple octaves as he sang the last verse of his second song, unaware of what his movements were doing to the crowd before him. Several people had moved closer to the stage as he continued to sing, lured by the sound and the sight of him, "Before I die, I smile like I'm jokin'. But I'm still alive, wide-eyed and chokin'..." His voice dropped back to it's previous tone as he fell into the chorus once again, eyes closing briefly. His chest was heaving, a sheen of sweat sparkling on his exposed skin as he finished the song and he turned to collect a bottled water from on top of one of the large speakers, gulping several sips down before he quickly re-tuned his guitar before stepping back up to continue with his third and final song. He started up with heavy guitar and drums joined in quickly, creating yet another kind of sound and mood. 

"Alcoholic kind of mood, lose my clothes, lose the lube. Cruising for a piece of fun, looking out for number one. Different partner ever night, so narcotic, out of sight. What a gas; what a beautiful ass... It all breaks down at the role reversal. Got the muse in my head; she's universal. Spinnin' me round, she's comin' over me..." The way he moved was obviously seductive as the brunette began the decidedly erotic lyrics of his final song, his hips gyrating in such a way that made Seifer's cheeks heat and a tightness he was hard-pressed to deny creep into his pants. Squall Leonhart was a boy full of surprises and an overwhelming amount of sex appeal.. Seifer wasn't the only one effected by the beautiful teen's performance and it showed from the lustful gazes from both sexes that poured over that stage. Grown men looked as though they were willing to fight each other for just the chance at getting the youth's attention, even for just one second. Where Squall had learned to move like that was a mystery to Seifer, but it begged the question of how Squall might move in more intimate scenarios. Somewhere in the back of the brawny blond jock's mind, he recalled the description Squall had given him on just what it was like while performing up on a stage and he wondered if that was what was lending Squall his appeal. During the performance, Seifer had at some point drained his glass and acquired another without even realizing he had done so. The alcohol burned down his throat as he watched the walking wet dream swaying and gyrating on the little stage.

The rest of the lyrics were lost on the tall blond eighteen year old as his gaze raked over the lithe boy and he was sorely disappointed when Squall finished. Though he had played for what seemed like hours, the performance Squall put on ended far too soon in Seifer's opinion. Seeing and hearing Squall sing made Seifer feel like more of a prick than he already had for having brushed the obviously talented and totally sexy brunette boy off in lieu of the new 'friends' he'd picked up instead. Sure, he'd had no problem falling into popularity already, having passed their initial test and getting their approval through his outright inability to be intimidated and yet as his eyes followed after Squall, he couldn't help, but feel he'd made the wrong choice.

As the last of the chords tapered off and the show came to a close, Seifer's applause were drowned out by the rest of the audience. It was clear that Squall had been a hit and even for Gregory seated on the blond's left, it had obviously had an effect; he looked frankly embarrassed. The others in the group were still metaphorically getting their jaws off the ground, neither applauding nor able to criticize the other teen that they normally had no issue ridiculing in whatever fashion suited them at the time. Nothing Squall had said or done so far had hinted that he was quite so talented, his reputation effectively hiding his abilities from his peers.

"Another shot please," Seifer requested as the bartender passed by them behind the bar, setting the requested shot before the under aged youth momentarily before making off to the other end of the bar. Downing the requested liquor with a wince, the jade-eyed jock glanced across the bar. He wanted to get the courage to go and say something to the brunette, at least apologize for ditching him, even if that courage came in liquid form.

Squall couldn't see anything through the bright lighting, so he had been entirely unaware that his little performance had been viewed by several of his most hated classmates and by his newest crush. He hadn't expected quite the reaction he'd gotten as he'd finished the set. It was far more intense than he'd been expecting and he was relieved, hearing the multitude of whistles, cat calls, and applause. He thanked them, though he wasn't sure if anyone heard his gratitude over the raucous noise of the crowd. He gave a nonchalant wave as he walked off the stage, a decidedly confident swagger to slim hips.

Ward, the burly owner of the bar congratulated him gruffly and told him he'd expected nothing less from Laguna's spawn as he handed Squall another bottle of water and a hand towel to wipe the sweat from his brow. It was damn hot under those lights. The youth's skin tingled heatedly, adrenaline still rushing through him, heart beating wildly as he came down from the high of being on stage in front of the crowd and it was every bit as intense as he'd described to Seifer the day before. He almost wished the other could have been up there with him. Almost.

Ward gave him a last pat on the back, letting him know there were a few dozen people waiting to talk to him out in the bar before he took his leave. Squall twisted the lid off the bottled water, gulping it down as he made his way out from behind the stage after he'd set his guitar on a provided stand, the hand towel draped over his shoulders. He spotted several familiar faces in the audience as he stepped out, even through the various older people trying to speak with him and congratulate him, a few offering business cards. He collected the cards and spoke with the crowd politely before excusing himself to escape outside for a much needed cigarette, hoping beyond reason to avoid any contact with the group he'd caught a glimpse of at the bar.

He leaned against the crumbling tan brick at the side of the old building, lighting up and taking a deep pull from the cigarette, letting the smoke filter into his lungs, the motion soothing his nerves as his hands shook with the remnants of the adrenaline. He hoped no one had followed him out when he'd made his hasty escape, leaving his guitar in the owner's care for the time being, trusting his father's old friend easily. He let the smoke billow from between his lips as he tried to decide what to do about the impromptu presence of the jocks from school, including one Seifer Almasy. He sighed heavily, fiddling with his hair as he considered his options. He could totally ignore them, pretend he didn't even know them or he could just leave. So wrapped up in his thoughts was he that he didn't notice anyone's approach as he smoked.

As Seifer had downed his drink, he'd lost sight of Squall in the crowd much to his disappointment. The rest of group had decided to continue to just drink for the sake of drinking as if any one of them would be able to put what they'd just witnessed from the resident whore of their school aside. Seifer, though decided that it was time to take his leave in search of the brunette he owed a serious apology to. He caught sight of the Squall taking business cards at the edge of the stage out of the corner of his eyes and for a brief moment, envy flickered through him. Squall had perhaps just secured himself a career opportunity that would skyrocket him out of this no name town to do something he obviously loved and Seifer envied him his freedom.

The moment passed as quickly as it had come over him. He had the capacity for that freedom too, he was just too much of a pussy to reach out for it, scared of his father's wrath. He shook his head, the alcohol easily disrupting that train of self-deprecation and bringing his mind back to a certain hauntingly beautiful brunette. A few minutes later, he'd slipped out of the bar, following after said brunette. He stood behind Squall for a long moment, trying to think of something clever to say while he had the chance. He doubted the others would come looking for him, still wrapped up in their frivolous underage drinking. He hoped he didn't appear too drunk, all too aware that the way the street was moving from side to side meant that either an earthquake had hit or he wasn't quite as steady on his feet as he had thought.

"Good show," he eventually managed to blurt, feeling foolish for having come up with nothing better to say. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly when the brunette jumped slightly once he'd finally spoken, Squall clearly startled out of his thoughts by the blond's unexpected presence. The younger boy turned towards him slowly, or at least it seemed slow to the inebriated teen.

"Thanks. I wasn't expecting to see anyone I knew tonight," Squall trailed off, self-conscious under Seifer's gaze even though he knew he'd done well when performing.

"You here with your friends?" he questioned, excluding himself from the group he was referring to as he tried to cover his discomfort. He'd seen them, the jocks and their cliche dolled-up girlfriends, getting wasted at the bar like the immature idiots they were. He took another hit of his cigarette, trying desperately to will his hands to stop trembling as he spoke to the other male. It wasn't just an aftereffect of adrenaline anymore. 'He looks so good,' he mused inwardly as his stormy gaze traveled over the other boy's body with unavoidable interest.

"It really was awesome. I liked it," Seifer breathed, a small, silly grin pulling at his mouth as he spoke, "Were those guys that came up to the stage umm..." He closed his eyes, trying to force his muddled brain to conjure up the correct term, "Talenty guy things?" he finally managed to get out upon being unable to come up with the right word for the agents that had been present. It took him another moment before he realized what else Squall had said. A wounded look passed over angular features as the brunette's remark about his friends sunk in, though he had to admit, he deserved it. He leaned against the wall carefully, more for support in order to remain on his feet than anything else. "Mm-yeah, I guess. My dad went on a weekend trip, so..." he tried to shrug though the effect was lost since he was propped against the faded brick of the wall, "Here I am." As the affirmation left his mouth, it left a bitter taste and a little annoying voice demanding his apology echoing in the back of his head. He argued with it briefly, after all he hadn't actually done anything blatantly wrong, in poor taste maybe, but that was it.

"Hn... Some of them were. Others were just interested and didn't mind if I was underage," Squall replied after a moment, a cynical half smirk forming on plush lips. He blinked dreamily at the other male, eyes glimmering in the dull light of the street lamps. He released a soft snort at Seifer's explanation as to why he was at the bar with the pack of idiots. "Letting loose, I gather..." he trailed off idly more to himself than his taller classmate, dropping his cigarette and immediately lighting another, offering the blond one out of politeness.

Seifer laughed at Squall's cynical response, unable to hold himself in check in the state he was in. "So job offers either way," he sneered jokingly, perhaps not in the best taste, but he was trying to be funny and at the very least, get some kind of a reaction out of the smoldering brunette. Seifer took the cigarette that was offered, his fingers clumsy as he handled it, eyes on Squall as he lit up, waiting for the reaction to his ill thought out comment.

Slate eyes narrowed, "I'm not a prostitute," Squall bit back, a venomous edge to his normally smooth voice, making it clear how he felt about the blond's implication, "But the legitimate offers are definitely something I'll be considering. I already have a demo album made and my dad said he'd help me find a suitable producer. I'm not going to be a sell-out, one way or the other." Seifer noticeably cringed, realizing what he had actually implied and how it had obviously caused the brunette beauty offense. He didn't verbally apologize, though his hazy emerald eyes begged the other teen's forgiveness regardless of his silence

"You drunk?" Squall asked after another brief stint of silence, sharp eyes noticing the odd waver to the other male's movements. He wrapped his unoccupied arm around his own waist, hugging himself as he leaned against the wall facing Seifer, wisps of smoke curling overhead as an errant autumn breeze tousled the previously styled chocolate locks.

"Just a little," Seifer confessed. He was far from fall-down-pass-out-and-choke-on-your-own-puke-drunk, but if he were being honest, he was definitely drunk enough to get himself into trouble. He settled against the wall more comfortably, trying to appear more sober than he was. It was telling enough that he had ingested more than enough alcohol when the brisk wind didn't even make him shiver, even with only a short-sleeved shirt on.

"Won't your new buddies be missing you?" Squall asked as he watched the other from beneath heavy lashes, giving a soft chuckle as Seifer downplayed his inebriation. It was fairly clear to the sober brunette just how drunk the taller youth actually was, maybe not so drunk that he was likely to forget the events of the evening, but certainly drunk enough to be setting inhibitions aside. He had assumed as much when he'd first noticed the other in the bar. He tapped a painted finger against his lip in thought, "You have a ride home?" There was a tone of concern to the inquiry though he'd meant to sound completely uninterested. The jock group wasn't the most reliable when it came to getting home safe after a night out. He knew from the stories that traveled the school every Monday. The tales were always the same and always just as painfully annoying after every weekend that passed, ranging from people waking up on strangers' lawns, girls who'd slept with a mistake, and ending with teen aged pregnancy, alcohol poisoning, overdoses and abortions, all those scandalous things that circulated during adolescence. He shivered as the sweet smelling sweat cooled on his skin in the chill of the evening breeze, shifting against the chilly brick of the building and tapping an impatient foot on the asphalt as he watched Seifer.

"I highly doubt it. Most of them are worse off than I am. They prob'ly don't even realize I took off on them. I can't imagine they'll wait around to give me a lift home, not that any o' them should even be drivin' anyhow," the tall golden haired jock replied honestly. He definitely was in no shape to drive and Conner; the starting kicker with the car had already been finishing off his eighth pint the last time Seifer had seen him. It wasn't a good position to be in, really, but he'd rarely ever thought these outings through, just like the rest of the popular crowd. Rinoa, Seifer's 'date' had been making passes at one of the older guys who'd squeezed her ass while she had been leaning over the bar just as he'd left, so he wasn't exactly holding his breath for her to take him home. He couldn't bring himself to give even half a fuck about it though, not emotionally attached to the girl in the slightest.

Squall shifted his weight against the wall again, thinking. It was seriously stupidly ironic that as self-absorbed as the popular kids seemed to be, they had very little regard for their own mortality. He was kind of pissed still about what had happened the previous afternoon, still confused about his feelings for Seifer and what he planned to do about them; he didn't really want to offer him a ride, but he didn't think he could leave him at the bar with his idiotic 'friends' who'd most likely drive drunk or end up wandering the streets wasted until they passed out somewhere. He really couldn't leave the blond in their company in good conscience.

"I'll give you a ride, but I'm leaving like now, so if you want me to take you with me, you'll have to leave when I do, otherwise you can take your chances here," he reluctantly offered finally, stubbing his half-finished second cigarette out on the brick next to his hip while thoughts surfaced in his mind. He wasn't sure where Seifer lived and he seriously doubted the blond's ability to give him directions in his current state. Plus, Seifer had said his father was away and it was decidedly too late to be calling for directions on his behalf anyway, not to mention what kind of bullshit he'd have to take from the elder Almasy should he actually have to get in touch with the politician and explain his son's situation to him... Of course, these things were all excuses because in reality, Squall couldn't help, but recall the lonely bitterness the other had expressed while talking about being at home all by himself most of the time.

"You wanna crash at my place? My dad'll be home, but he's pretty cool, so..." he took a chance, mentally kicking himself as soon as the offer had left his mouth. He'd never invited anyone over before, not once in his whole two and a half years of high school. He'd never had reason to. And he certainly didn't want the people he fooled around with knowing his address. It was another of his own rules broken. Deep down, he knew why he'd made the offer to the tall blond; he didn't want to give up the possibility of spending more time with Seifer away from prying eyes. They couldn't be friends in public, but no one would be the wiser if Squall took him home tonight. And come Monday morning, there'd be no new rumours to follow the two of them, at least in regards to spending the weekend in each other's company.

When Squall made the offer to give Seifer a ride, the older boy was confused. The brunette really had no reason to be so damn nice to him after all the shitty things he'd said so far. Sure, getting a ride with Squall would be safer, but he was pretty fuzzy on the directions back to his new house. The second half of the offer took him entirely by surprise and it wasn't one he could easily say no to. It was safe, he wouldn't have to worry about giving crappy directions or ending up on someone's lawn overnight and besides that, he hated to be alone, especially in a house he hadn't lived in for more than three days. "Sure, I guess. I mean, if you don't mind," his voice sounded almost meek to his own ears as he gave his answer, accepting both offers without considering any ulterior motives the other boy may be harbouring. in all honestly, he didn't really care. He wanted to find out where he stood with the singer anyhow. 

Besides, he wasn't sure he could get up from the wall on his own. Settling down against the supporting coolness of the brick had seemed like a good idea at the time, but his head was already swimming and his vision wavered slightly as he shifted.

Squall had put himself into a corner with no way to get out of the offer now that it had been accepted. He nodded, "It's fine," he said simply, rubbing a hand over his bare arm out of nervousness more than any need to bring warmth to the chilled flesh.

"Stay here for a sec. I gotta grab my guitar and my car from the back. I'll pull around here to pick you up," he said, figuring the other was inebriated enough that it would be inconvenient to force him to meet out back and going back into the bar could be a problem if they were spotted by the group still drinking and screwing around inside. He straightened from his leaning position, sparing Seifer the briefest of glances as he passed him on his way back into the bar to collect his guitar and jacket. 

He bid the owner a swift farewell with a final thanks for letting him play before he zipped his guitar into it's canvas case and shrugged on his fur-collared bomber jacket. He went out the back door, digging his keys out of his coat pocket and putting the guitar into the backseat before slipping into the driver's seat, not bothering with his seat belt for the moment as he started the corvette up and pulled around the side of the building where Seifer stood slouched against the brick.

He put the car in park before heading back out into the chill night, leaving it running while he went to retrieve his charge. He offered the blond a hand up, "Come on." The other teen didn't seem to be in a completely drunken stupor for which Squall was silently grateful. He hated dealing with people when they vomited or passed out. It was a nuisance and he hadn't the patience for it. At least Seifer could walk, albeit a lot more clumsily than when sober, but at least he could move his own damn feet. Squall looked at the other male with warmth in the stormy depths of his eyes, luminescent in the low light, though he'd be damned if he'd admit to such a look crossing his face if confronted about it later.

While the other had been retrieving his car, Seifer looked up at the stars, ignoring the sound of another peel of laughter coming from inside the bar. The night was cool, almost pleasantly so. He took a drag off the cigarette he'd all but forgotten about, allowing the spicy tobacco smoke to warm him on the inside slightly. He leaned back further, his head against the cold, tan brick. He stubbed out the cigarette on wall beside his right hip unconsciously as he thought over how the night was turning out; it was nothing like he had expected, that was for damn sure. He hoped he wouldn't make too much of an idiot out of himself while he was in Squall's company, at least not anymore than he already had.

When the brunette from his thoughts pulled around in his corvette, Seifer gave a little wave, stretching as much as he could whilst propped against the wall. When Squall offered one pale, slim hand to him, he took it without even the slightest hint of hesitation, pulling himself up, leaning heaving against the smaller youth while he struggled to regain his equilibrium. For just a moment, their eyes met, luminous twilight oceans clashing against deep, misty forest green and Seifer swallowed dryly. 'How can anyone have eyes like that?' he questioned silently, though outwardly, he managed to plaster on a silly little grin as he spoke, "Alright, I'm up, I think. Thanks. Think I'm going to be saying that a lot..."

"It's okay. You don't have to thank me, after all I might have ulterior motives," Squall murmured huskily in return as the other male leaned against him, heat from their bodies mingling. The brunette's cheeks flushed with warmth, lashes lowering over the glimmering depths as he let Seifer use him for support while he balanced himself. Seifer didn't have a response to Squall's statement; he figured it was a joke. 'Doubt I could get it up anyhow, what with all that whiskey I was drinking...'

Squall pulled back as soon as Seifer regained his equilibrium. "Let's go," he said as he opened his car door, watching to make sure the blond got into the car without mishap. It was odd; the other male was being rather agreeable, considering he'd made it clear that he wasn't going to follow the same pattern as all the other guys who'd experimented with the brunette. He didn't seem concerned that Squall might pull a fast one on him while he was less than sober. What he chose to take as a show of trust made Squall's heart flutter against his better judgement. He shook his head, 'It doesn't have to mean anything like that. Maybe he's just decided it wouldn't be so bad to use me too...' He tried not to think too deeply into the whole situation. He wasn't really planning to do anything while the other was at his house and had been drinking, especially since Laguna would be home and probably curious, not that the older man would care much either way, but that wasn't the point. In reality, Squall was much more emotionally fragile than he let on to anyone around him. He'd spent a long time closing off his feelings so that he couldn't be hurt and yet the cocky seeming blond was steadily getting further and further under his skin.

Seifer swayed for one unsteady moment when Squall let him go, but then with a first unsteady step, the rest followed easily. He pulled the passenger door open with clumsily numb fingers, flopping gracelessly into the leather seat before pulling the door shut against the cool air. 'So far, so good...' He didn't trust the other kids he'd come to the place with to get him home or anywhere safely for that matter. Seifer had no way of telling exactly how he was affecting the other teen, not having known him long enough to notice any of his slight personality shifts. Squall didn't seem a whole lot different than he had been the day before when they had hung out, maybe a little more rushed and his flirty comments seemed to be more forced, as if they were for familiarity's sake than any deeper motive.

Once Squall was sure Seifer was buckled in safely, buckling his own seat belt and glancing around the parking lot to make sure no one was in the way and no other cars were going to blindside him, he pulled out from beside the building back out onto the main road. A different disc was playing than the one he'd had playing the day before. It was one of his demo albums; he'd been listening to it before he'd arrived for the gig, preparing himself. He glanced sidelong at Seifer as he drove through the mostly deserted streets towards the well maintained two story brick house he shared with his dad. "So, how long's your dad out of town for this time?" he asked, as his eyes slid back to the stretch of road before him, one hand gripping the steering wheel as his other tapped soft fingertips against his own thigh in time with the music pouring from the speakers, streetlights flickering overhead as he drove.

Seifer's idle musing was interrupted by Squall's question. "Oh. Hmm. Prob'ly for at least the weekend. 'M not even sure where he went. He jus' told me he would be out for a coupla days. Usually that means like two or three days a' least," he replied in a slack tone, lazily blinking up at the passing lights before leaning back so that the flashing didn't make his head swim. He closed his eyes, just listening to the low hum of the engine and the soft chords of one of Squall's songs as it filled in the silence that fell between them.

After an amount of time Seifer couldn't fathom, the car slowed down. He thought he kind of recognized the neighbourhood and the brick house they were pulling up in front of reminded him of his previous home. "Where is this?" he asked quietly, struck by the feeling of familiarity, but knowing that it was not actually the same neighbourhood of his recent past.

Squall pulled the corvette into the wide drive way next to his dad's Porsche, parking in his usual spot. "Modern suburbia, where else?" he replied with a grin. The neighbourhood was one of those subdivisions where all the houses were similar, but different at the same time, expensive, with two car garages and pools in the back yard and they had barbecues in the summer with the elderly neighbors. "It's called Stonebrook."

He wondered idly why the other boy had bothered to ask; Seifer's expression was interesting, halfway between confusion and recognition. "Well, this is my house. I know it probably looks pretty normal, huh?" Squall commented, feeling a little self-conscious and awkward. There was no way to tell that a former rock star lived in the house, or that someone like Squall himself lived there at all. It had been the house his mother had wanted when his parents had gotten married before he'd been born and though there were tragic memories within its walls, Squall and his father couldn't bare to give it up.

He turned off the engine and unbuckled before opening his door and sliding out, grabbing his guitar from the backseat before making his way around to the other side of the little black corvette and opening the door for Seifer. "Come on, let's go inside," he prompted with an encouraging half smile.

The lights were on in the den and in the basement studio. That meant his dad was home and still awake, probably waiting for him, to ask about the gig.

Seifer had tried to give a low whistle as he set his gaze on the other car that Squall pulled in next to. He really did, but he failed miserably. "That car must cost more than some houses," he announced instead, pointing at the burgandy porsche "Your dads?" Squall glanced at his dad's car as Seifer pointed it out to him, obviously drunk enough to be distracted easily from the task at hand which was currently vacating the passenger seat in Squall's corvette. Seifer was reeling from the sheer simplicity and normalcy of the house Squall claimed to live in. It was an expensive house in an obviously nice neighbourhood and both he and his dad had beautiful cars to call there own. he couldn't imagine someone with Squall's reputation living in such a place, not that he really had any idea what kind of place he had expected the brunette to live exactly.

"Yeah, that's his," Squall replied after a second, giving the other car a fond look. It was his dad's baby. Laguna took better care of it than he did himself most of the time. Seifer fumbled with the release for the seat belt while stood holding the car door for him. 

Seifer hummed in response, "Nice car, nice house, you sure are a pocketful of mysteries Mr. Leonhart," he murmured quietly after a second of squinting up at the suburban home, almost as if he were talking to himself.

"I know, it's a far cry from the brothel people at school think I was raised in, yeah?" the brunette joked lightly, shaking his head. No one at the school knew much about Squall Leonhart and so they stipulated and speculated about what kind of life he lead outside the walls of their high school. It was amazing the things people could come up with.

The taller boy didn't comment further as he unfolded himself from the car carefully, a look of concentration on his face as he stepped out onto the paved driveway, running a nervous hand through his short cropped golden tresses. "Alright, think 'm good, just eh, stay close in case I fall, 'kay?" he muttered as he took a step out of the doorway, allowing Squall to close the door while he eyed the porch step suspiciously.

"I'm right here, no worries, but I'll warn you, I won't drop my guitar to save your sorry ass from falling," he said, placing a hand on the other male's shoulder as they moved towards the front step, their shared efforts allowing for Seifer to get to the front door without too much stumbling and he managed to avoid kissing the ground. Squall chuckled under his breath as Seifer heaved a sigh of relief, leaning against the wall as Squall moved to open the front door. It had really turned out to be a strange and unexpected end to his night, that was for sure.

The house was tastefully decorated with framed photographs of his mother, father and himself, prints of various artwork, even a framed hand print in vibrant violet paint, a child's scrawl labeling it as the brunette's. That was embarrassing, but it wasn't as if Squall could do anything about it; his dad loved the stupid thing. The flooring was a dark cherry wood, french doors to the left leading into the living room where a large screened television and entertainment system sat, two tope suede sofas and a matching armchair were situated facing it, complete with glass-topped cast iron coffee table right in the middle with an expensive oriental rug situated beneath. Further down the hall, there was a doorway to the left that lead down to the den and studio in the basement and passed that was the huge kitchen, modern chic with steel and black appliances, retro checkered tile flooring, complete with a breakfast island with three stools in the middle of the otherwise spacious room. A bowl of bright green apples sat in the middle of it. Through the kitchen to the left was the dining room, crystal chandelier hanging over a twelve place Mahogany dining table surrounded by matching chairs with a purple speckled white orchid in a navy blue lacquered vase in the center to match the dark blue walls. Black and white photo prints hung from the walls in artful disarray. From the right of the dining room, there was a laundry room and bathroom, both of which were fairly plain, cream-coloured and sparsely decorated, but still homey in their own right.

Squall's father came up the stairs, feet thumping on each step as he bounded up them, having heard his son pull into the drive way. Laguna Loire was a six foot, fit man, slim, but certainly broader than his son sporting jet black hair that was held back in low ponytail and dressed in casual black jeans with a maroon dress shirt, a few buttons undone at the top. He didn't look like he could be more than thirty-five, forty at the maximum and he was handsome, not androgynous like Squall. He moved with a carefree fluidity as he grinned at his son when he reached the top of the stairs before raising a surprised brow upon seeing Squall's entirely unexpected guest.

"Dad, this is Seifer. He's um... a friend from school. He's gonna crash here tonight," Squall introduced awkwardly, looking down as his father smiled at the two of them, a knowing look in his jade eyes.

Laguna stepped forward and offered Seifer his right hand, "Call me Laguna, I don't do that mister Loire shit," he greeted with an easy grin, the same grin that Seifer had seen on Squall once or twice. Squall rubbed his forehead, feeling incredibly awkward about the whole situation; his father was clearly misconstruing their relationship.

Seifer wasn't sure what he had expected Squall's father to be like exactly, but Laguna Loire wasn't it. He could see the resemblance between Squall and the older man, the same grin and the same carefree fluid movements that seemed to come naturally to the both of them, but it just didn't seem to fit with the image Seifer had of what Squall's father should have been like. The fact that they seemed to have different last names didn't escape the older teen's notice either and he made a mental note to question the other boy about it another time. Laguna certainly did have 'Rock Star' written on him, though his image was entirely different from that of his son.

Seifer missed the knowing look that Squall's father cast between himself and his son and even if he had somehow managed to catch the look, he had no way of knowing that it translated into Laguna believing them to be a couple.

"Seifer Almasy," the taller blond introduced properly, taking the hand and shaking it with an ingrained familiarity and air of respect.

Laguna released the youth's hand after it was shaken in a strong grip warmly. He knew the name; Alexander Almasy was the new politician that had moved into town and Laguna was familiar with his campaign, though he was totally opposed to the overly traditional Christian values that it boasted. He didn't say anything about it as he looked between his blushing son and the tall blond boy. He could smell the liquor on Seifer. "It's no problem for him to stay here tonight. How was the gig?" he asked with interest, not really addressing either of them specifically, but both of them, ignoring the blond's obvious intoxication.

Squall perked up at the mention of the gig, "It was good. I got a lot of business cards. You're gonna have to help me go through them all," he said, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice as he talked about his earlier performance, obviously proud of himself. Laguna smiled, reaching to ruffle his son's hair affectionately.

"I said I would. And what did you think of it?" the long-haired older man asked, turning his jade gaze towards Seifer expectantly. He crossed his arms over his chest loosely, looking nonchalant and perfectly comfortable to stay conversing in the wide hallway all night. Squall gave his father a look, trying desperately to get the other to go away now, before he said or did anything to really embarrass him.

Seifer had been watching Squall as he spoke to Laguna, taking in his excited tone and the excess of energy that seemed to have been sparked by the memory of the performance; Seifer couldn't help the unbidden thought that the younger brunette was kind of cute when he got all excited like that. 

"Eh, uh... It was awesome. He's a natural on stage," came Seifer's belated reply as he tore his gaze away from Squall long enough to make eye contact with the other boy's father instead. He tried to think of something else to say, but nothing seemed entirely appropriate when he thought back to what Squall had looked and sounded like up on that little bar stage. He couldn't properly gauge what he was expected to say? After all, his meeting up with the other youth had been pure coincidence; he hadn't had any reason to even expect to see him at the bar that evening, especially after Squall had been missing from school that day.

"Ah, I wish I could've been there," Laguna said, rubbing the back of his neck regretfully. Squall looked effectively embarrassed by both Seifer's and his father's words.

"It's fine dad; you can come next time. Ward said I could play any time I wanted. Can we please go to my room now?" Squall said quickly, trying to get away from his father before the older man began asking more awkward questions. He wouldn't be surprised if his father were to ask Seifer if the two of them were practicing safe sex and he'd do it too just to see his son squirm. Squall wanted to avoid it at all costs; he did not want to make Seifer any more uncomfortable in his presence. Otherwise, he was certain that another opportunity like tonight would never happen again.

Laguna threw up his hands in a sign of surrender, mischievous jade eyes lingering over his son's embarrassed expression. "Alright, alright," he said, looking between the two once again as he stepped towards the stairs before calling over his shoulder in a decidedly cheekier tone, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." He bounded back down the stairs before Squall had even had the chance to open his mouth in order to reprimand him. 

The exchange between father and son was rather unexpected and amusing to Seifer; a dad that was obviously disappointed that he had missed something important in the teen's life and a son trying to dismiss a parent that could potentially prove to be an embarrassment. It was an entirely foreign sort of interaction between a parent and child, at least to Seifer, who couldn't even recall the last time his own father had expressed any pride towards his only offspring, if there ever had been such a time at all.

Squall's quick talking gave Seifer the impression that Squall was expecting his dad to say something he'd really rather Laguna didn't. Being that it was the first time the Seifer had even seen the man, he could only guess at what that might be, figuring it could range from a disapproving comment about the Almasy political campaign to baby stories about Squall. Overall entertaining as it may turn out to be for Seifer, he assumed Squall just wasn't willing to let him in that far just yet. 

"Sorry he's so weird. I don't bring people home ever..." The brunette trailed off in apology, running slim fingers through his unruly chocolate locks before he abruptly tried to switch subjects, "So... Anyways, do you want something to drink? Water or something before we go upstairs? I'm gonna get changed. Uh, if you want, my dad's probably got some clothes that would fit you, I mean if you don't want to sleep in what your wearing, I guess," As he spoke, Squall's voice lost volume while the blush he'd been sporting since they'd first arrived darkened on his cheeks, clearly feeling awkward playing host in his home. It was new territory for him.

Seifer just gave a shrug, a sort of soft frown taking up residence on his handsome face. "Don't worry 'bout it. He's a dad, I mean, they're all embarrassing in their own way. At least he cares and at least he's around," his tone devoid of his normal confidence, replaced with a quiet sort of loneliness that he hadn't meant to give voice to. 'Damn alcohol...' he cursed inwardly, blaming the substance running through his system for his lack of control over his voice. "Sure, a water would be great and I'll live with sleeping in what I'm wearing. I already owe you enough, don't need to make laundry for you too," he managed to continue after a second, giving Squall a smile and a nod of appreciation, hoping he had successfully covered up his previous lapse. 

Squall immediately felt guilty over Seifer's words. Here he was, embarrassed by his dad's mere presence while Seifer probably wished his own father was more like Laguna. He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling suitably sheepish. He didn't respond verbally as he gave a curt little nod before turning towards the kitchen. He grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the large stainless steel refrigerator, leaving the other in the hall for a minute or two as he collected his thoughts once more. He handed one off to Seifer before moving past him, adjusting the guitar case on his shoulder.

"Come on, my room's this way," he said, stepping up the stairs ahead of the other male, giving Seifer a great view his pert little rear end all perfectly encased in soft leather, crossed by studded belts that shifted with every one of the brunette's steps and by God the blond couldn't help but stare.

Squall's room was on the second floor at the far end of the hallway, his father's being the one right at the top of the stairs. It was a strange hallway though, it seemed uneven somehow with both rooms on the right side of the hall while the left side was one long wall. It seemed that there was a room missing on the left, and instead a large portrait of a strikingly beautiful brunette woman with a hauntingly familiar face hung in the middle of the smooth, uninterrupted wall. Seifer didn't have time to study the oddity any further, nor to get a better look at the portrait as he followed his classmate with uneven steps.

The brunette's room was unlike any Seifer had seen before, a fair size upon first glance with deep violet walls, covered in posters of various bands, The Beatles being the most prominent. Three guitar stands sat in the left hand corner, one of which was empty, next to a record player and shelf of records along with an amp and stool. There was a black sofa and matching armchair with an oval coffee table covered in sheets of half-composed music and lyrics, a pencil laying on the haphazard pile. the floor was black and white checkered tile with a violet throw rug. The lights on the ceiling looked like stage lights, but strangely enough there was no bed in view. There was a sound system, complete with television situated in the middle of the far wall next to a set of steps leading to a twilight walled loft where Squall's double bed sat, covered in a crimson duvet, a nightstand next to it with an alarm clock resting on top and tall lamp situated behind it. On the right hand side was a walk in closet with an attached bathroom, neither of which could be seen clearly from the room below.

Upon entering his room, Squall set his bottle of water on the coffee table, avoiding the numerous papers spread over its surface, before he shrugged his guitar case from his shoulder, setting it on the couch and unzipping it. he pulled the deep scarlet guitar from the case, running a reverent hand over words that had been written on it by his mother, sending her his gratitude. He smiled gently before he turned slightly, glancing over at Seifer who appeared to be in some state of awe as he took in the other teen's room. "Uh, make yourself at home I guess," he said as he moved to carefully set the guitar on the only empty stand.

As soon as the guitar was safely back in its stand, the brunette crossed back towards the doorway, boots thudding softly across the tiled floor. He let his jacket slip from his shoulders, hanging it on a hook next to the door before bending to pull his heavy boots off and dropping them to the floor beneath it. He stood awkwardly, wanting to remove his vest and pants to drop them down the laundry chute, but feeling self-conscious about doing so in front of the other male. Slowly, he unbuttoned the silky vest, face burning as he turned away from the tall blond as he slipped it off, revealing the tattoo covering his back. A pair of intricately inked wings that protruded from over the sharpness of shoulder blades, feathery plumes blooming over pale skin in black shaded ink bleeding into glass-like shards the small of his back as if the wings had shattered upon impact with the base of the youth's spine. A line of calligraphy depicting the lyrics he'd mentioned before scrawled over the top of the wings across his shoulders and neck. Ignoring the feel of curious eyes on his back, he quickly balled up the vest and threw it down the chute located next to the door, a blush colouring his cheeks against his will.

Seifer was shocked by the other teen's room, really, he'd never seen such an awesome pad for a kid. It was so clear by all the music paraphernalia where Squall's passion lied and it was an amazing sight in all honesty. Not a single student in their school knew about this place, was privy to Squall's secret sanctuary and he had actually invited Seifer, allowed him to meet his famous father and stay inside his home Seifer wasn't sure what to make of the revelation, but he didn't have much time to dwell on it as his eyes searched out and followed the brunette as he moved. He swallowed hard as he realized that Squall was removing his clothes, revealing the intense black lines of that tattoo he had thus far only glimpsed and by God, he wasn't sure what he had done right, what cards he had put in play to deserve finally seeing it, seeing any of Squall for that matter after what he'd done to him the day before, but he thanked his lucky stars.

When Squall moved to turn back around, Seifer looked away, embarrassed by his own uncontrollable staring. Squall avoided Seifer's eyes as he turned to face him, casting those stormy depths around the room instead and landing on the crowded table and sofa.

"Ah, sorry, I'll move stuff for you. You can crash on the couch since I seriously doubt you wanna crash in bed with me..." he said as he noticed the other male still standing near the doorway with his bottled water in hand. He was glad for the distraction as he moved to clear up the strewn sheets of music and lyrics off the small oval coffee table and his open guitar case from the couch. His ears burned with flustered embarrassment. He'd never felt so insecure as he did now, not since he'd first started high school. As he stepped passed the blond to retrieve the empty guitar case and the papers off of the furniture, the words looped in cursive over his shoulders came into clear view. 'The road to heaven is paved with razor blades and angel's wings...' The scrawled words struck a chord inside of Seifer and he wanted to ask about the line, but found he was unable to get any sound to fall from his mouth as Squall straightened himself and turned to face him once more, looking a bit lost.

"Its alright, I mean, it's your room, your space, you know. And it's not like you were expecting to have a slumber party or anything" Seifer said, finally finding his voice. He set his water bottle down after taking a large gulp from it. There was something off about the other boy, a stiffness in his movements that just hadn't been there before and he avoided Seifer's eyes when he spoke about the sleeping arrangements. "The couch is fine with me. I've slept in worse places after a night of drinking," he assured, uncertain why he needed to in the first place, but doing so anyways. It would be weird, at least for him, if he crashed in Squall's bed with him. He still wasn't a hundred percent on what exactly his standing was with the brunette and he'd never really shared a bed with anyone before, let alone a notoriously lusty gay boy he'd only met a day ago. Squall might have promised to keep his 'hands off', but Seifer wasn't entirely sure if it still applied after how things had ended the evening before and there was no need to apply any extra temptation, not that he really got the impression that Squall would take advantage of his drunken state or that the smaller teen would be able to do anything to him against his will, but still. It was bad enough that Squall just seemed to beg for attention, even when it didn't seem like he was conscious of it and Seifer wasn't so certain he could refuse if the other boy offered to withdraw that little promise.

Squall did his best to hide his relief when Seifer agreed to spending the night on the couch. If Seifer'd agreed to share the bed, he just knew he would have spent the whole night wide awake trying to keep himself from cuddling with the taller male and more than likely doing something they'd both regret later, if only out of nervousness.

The brunette rubbed the back of his neck, dispelling his thoughts and sucking his lower lip in between his teeth, the silver barbel in his navel twinkling in the bright light pouring from over head. "Do you wanna watch a movie or listen to music or something? You can turn on whatever you want. The remotes are all sitting on the tv stand; I'm just gonna change real quick," he said, facing Seifer, but not looking at him head on, dusky pink nipples standing out against the backdrop of pale smooth skin on his slim torso. He crossed one arm over his waist, holding his other just above the elbow in an attempt to cover some of the flesh up. He had considered removing his pants by the doorway too, but he'd very nearly pulled the vest back on when he'd felt the eyes on him, unable to actually follow through with the urge because it was too ridiculous. He wasn't going to put himself through any further embarrassment. Besides, Seifer was just curious; that was all. 

"Sure," Seifer acknowledged unconsciously as his eyes traveled over Squall's naked chest, the little shiny piercing not escaping his notice before his gaze drifted further up the lithe torso towards Squall's face. How could a boy be so damn alluring? It made no sense at all in Seifer's head. He coughed, tearing his eyes forcibly away from the brunette when Squall shifted to cover himself with his arms. "Ah alright, I'll just make myself comfortable and find something to watch," he said as an afterthought, hoping to have covered for his own blatant interest, waiting for the other boy to turn towards the steps before adding in a more serious and almost nervous tone, "Hey, listen... Thanks... For letting me stay here tonight. And you know for being so cool about it. You didn't have to. Guess I just wanted you to know I 'ppreciate it." He didn't wait for a response as he looked to the stand where the remotes were resting. He stretched before stepping over to retrieve them, after which he flopped himself onto the black sofa with a grateful groan.

Squall turned away from Seifer to ascend the narrow steps up to his loft, looking back over his shoulder with a soft, almost shy smile that he'd never shown the other before when he caught the softer words of gratitude the blond spoke. "No problem. Just don't tell anyone at school where I live 'kay? It's better if they believe the crap everyone spreads around. If you keep it to yourself, you can come here anytime you wanna get away or to just not be alone or whatever," he replied sincerely. He didn't need the stupid shits from school coming to his house and vandalizing things or harassing him and his dad; he didn't want to make Laguna worry any more about him than he already did. As for the offer to accommodate the tall blond jock whenever he wanted; it was genuine. Seifer's softly spoken words made his chest ache just a little and he didn't think he'd mind having Seifer around more often so long as he kept this place a secret.

"Be back in a sec," he said after a second more standing at the bottom of the stairs before finally ascending the steps and disappearing into the loft above. Once in the relative privacy of the loft, he removed his belts and peeled off his leather pants with a sigh of relief, glad to be free of the heat they seemed to trap inside, leaving him completely bare aside from his socks and jewelry. Stepping away from the leather pooled at his feet, he slipped off his socks, dropping them onto the crumpled pants and stepped into his closet. He pulled a pair of underwear from one of the topmost drawers of his dresser, slipping into the lime green boxer briefs with neon pink vertical stripes on them. Feeling a little more comfortable now that he at least had underwear on, he slid the multitude of bracelets off his wrists and removed the leather accessories from his upper arms as well as the necklace from around his neck, placing them on a shelf inside the closet. Finished removing the last of his performance wear, he pulled on a pair of plaid pajama shorts that fell just about halfway down milky thighs, covering the ridiculously bright underpants from view and slipped an over-sized Smashing Pumpkins t-shirt that had belonged to his dad once, over his head. The shirt nearly covered the shorts, but it didn't bother the teen as it was one of the most comfortable things to sleep in that he owned. Soon enough, he was climbing back down to join his handsome classmate on the couch. He plopped down next to him, reaching for his own bottled water still untouched on the coffee table before leaning back into the soft cushions.

Seifer flipped channels as Squall was returning from his loft and gave him a sidelong look accompanied by a grin when the other boy slipped onto the cushions just a foot or so from himself. "I won't tell the kids at school shit, so you don't have to worry. My lips are sealed," he affirmed honestly, verbalizing his intentions to uphold Squall's request for secrecy. He could understand why. He didn't doubt even for one second that if he were to feed them the little tidbit of info he had now gained, they would stalk the pretty boy incessantly, with no regard for his family or him. The smile Squall had given him before he'd gone up those stairs had made him weak in the knees and at that moment, he'd have promised the brunette the ocean, the moon, and all of the God damned stars in the sky if he'd asked it of him. The offer to share his sanctuary in exchange for Seifer's silence was unexpected and Seifer found that he would definitely be interested in taking the other teen up on it, but even if he didn't, he'd have kept the secret anyways. Squall Leonhart was turning out to be nothing like he had expected.

Squall nodded as he twisted the cap off of his water and took a gulp of the cold, refreshing liquid, effectively hiding any embarrassment he might have had when Seifer gave him his word that he would keep Squall's home life a secret from anyone and everyone. "So you really liked the show tonight?" he asked, not looking at Seifer as he smoothly shifted the topic to something else. He wanted to know the blond's honest opinion anyhow with no lip service and no fake bullshit.

Seifer settled on a random action movie before setting the remote on the sofa between the two of them as his thoughts continued to circulate around the possibility of spending more time with the beautiful boy just a foot away from him. At school, he would have made his father proud, having procured himself an 'acceptable' set of friends, but in reality, Seifer would rather be right where he was at that moment, spending time with one of the 'undesirables'. That realization terrified the blond more than he could admit, but he didn't think he would be able to stop himself from seeking Squall's company again in the future when the brunette had offered it so sincerely. 'Something's wrong with me...' he thought accusingly, but he didn't dwell on just what he thought might be 'wrong' with him, easily allowing Squall's voice to distract him.

"Hm? Oh hell yeah, I liked the show. You were totally like a pro up there," Seifer responded with a broad smile, honesty shimmering in the foresty depths of his eyes as he gave Squall a sidelong look, "I mean, I'm sure as hell not a music critic, but I've been to some real live concerts by famous bands that weren't as good. You seemed totally relaxed up there though, like you were born to perform. The talent guys seemed to agree, so really, I can't imagine my opinion matters a great deal on the whole."

"It does..." Squall argued quietly, not looking at Seifer as he nibbled the rim of his water bottle's mouth. The blond's opinion did matter, maybe even more than the scouts' did, at least to Squall, though he wasn't about to admit just how much it mattered out loud. He didn't dare try to analyze why exactly it mattered so much, but it did. "Did you like a particular song out of the three I played?" he questioned, continuing the simple conversation. Seifer was the only person who'd heard him play that Squall was actually sort of friends with, the only one he might be able to trust to give him an honest answer or that he would actually want to speak with about it. It wasn't as if he could just waltz up to the jocks and ask for their opinions and the adults at the bar were strangers, so their praise really only went so far.

Squall focused stormy depths on the movie playing on his television screen as he rested pale feet against the coffee table, knees bent upwards towards his chest as he slouched against the couch cushions at his back. He wasn't really watching the movie, merely staring at the screen to avoid staring at Seifer instead, only casting a sidelong glance at the other boy when he responded to what the brunette had asked. One creamy white hand rested in his lap, lightly gripping his half emptied water bottle while his other rested lightly on the soft material of the sofa inches from the remote laying between himself and Seifer.

Seifer considered what he could remember of the show, the intricate melodies and lyrics of the songs Squall had sung for a long minute. He couldn't recall the names of the three tunes or even if the names had been given for the set, but it didn't really matter. Whichever he claimed to be his favourite, he was sure Squall would know the one he referred to. "I liked the second one the most, I think," he finally replied, lips pursed in thought for another moment before nodding, "Yeah. The second one has to be my favorite." 

Squall gave a nod of his own, acknowledging the song Seifer claimed as his favourite of the three he'd chosen for the gig. "Mexico..." he trailed off , quietly giving title to the particular tune. He thought he could understand why Seifer would have chosen that one. It was probably the catchiest of the three and also more or less the safest to choose compared to the other two.

Seifer stretched himself out after a while, muscular arms raising into the open air above his head, his fingers lacing as he inhaled a deep swift breath before releasing it with a slow hissing exhale through his nose. After a couple of soft cracking sounds of his joints popping were heard in the relative quiet that had filled the moment, his left hand glided down his arm to settle just below his right elbow, the limb going limp now propped up against his other wrist as a low groan rumbled out of his chest as the stretch had its desired effect. "Have you played long?" came the belated question as the thought struck him that Squall was definitely too talented to have played for any less than a few years at the very least. He slanted his gaze to the brunette next to him, green eyes lit by the flickering images playing over the TV screen.

"Most of my life, I guess. My dad started teaching me when I was three and my mom gave me my own guitar when I turned eight; that's the one I was playing tonight," Squall replied, eyes going distant briefly as he remembered when he'd received the treasured instrument, immediately drawn to the words scrawled with love over the shiny burgundy just for him. He'd memorized the message from his mother years ago and cherished the guitar and those written words with an intense protectiveness that he had no way to explain.

He shook the memory away after a moment. When he thought of those memories, other, less pleasant ones surfaced and in turn gave him a strong reminder that he'd never see her again. He brought his water bottle to his lips once more, watching Seifer from beneath his lashes, smiling against the water bottle as he took in the relaxed posture. "What do you plan on doing tomorrow?" he inquired lightly as he drew the plastic away once more, curious on whether or not the other male had plans, whether he might want to hang out or not. They wouldn't have to go anywhere.

Seifer nodded unconsciously to the brunette's answer to his previous inquiry. Fourteen years of practice certainly explained why he was so damn good; Squall's fingers had seemed to move along the strings through pure instinct. He gave a start inwardly as his thoughts were interrupted by Squall's own question. "Not really. I was just gonna play it by ear," he paused for a second, apparently having an internal debate before he made up his mind and continued, "We could hang out for a bit if you got nothin' better to do. As long as I check in with the handler dad gave me, should be fine. It beats sitting around the house, nursing a hangover and slowly going insane from boredom." The suggestion was tentative and he dropped his arms, bending the left and using it to pillow the back of his head while his other slid to the couch cushion between them limply, trying to appear casual. Emerald glanced out over his leg that crossed lazily over its opposite, trying to feign interest in the movie that seemed to be ending.

Squall turned his head against the back of the couch to look at Seifer fully, sharp eyes gauging that the blond's invitation was genuine before a small pleased smile played over bowed lips. "That's cool. I was gonna ask you if you wanted to hang out if you weren't busy. I've got nothing to do. My dad's going to visit a couple of his old band mates, so we'll have the house to ourselves. I can show you the studio downstairs if you want. My dad's got a bunch of other instruments down there and stuff from when he was still in his band," he said casually, tilting his head to the side a bit as he watched the other male. He had the sudden urge to lean over and kiss the smooth jaw that was presented to him while Seifer stared blankly at the screen of the television. He blinked, turning his gaze away abruptly, refusing to follow through with the idea. 'Stupid teenage brain,' he cursed inwardly, fighting off another heated blush. It seemed the more time he spent with Seifer, the more he liked him. He'd assumed him to be everything he pretended to be, superficial, cocky, and shallow, only interested in who could benefit him. It had turned out that he unexpectedly wasn't. The brawny jock was kind of innocent really and a little cynical, interesting and sweet even. Squall hadn't expected the other to be so multi-faceted or to genuinely catch his attention. It wasn't just a physical attraction anymore. The brunette sucked on his bottom lip, refusing to follow any of his body's silly urges. He wasn't willing to ruin whatever it was that was starting to grow between them, even if it was some kind of secret friendship that had to be kept from the rest of the student body at their school and from Seifer's father most likely.

"You have an entire studio downstairs?" Seifer's voice belatedly broke through Squall's thoughts as the blond turned his head to give him a look of surprise. Keeping a few guitars and the like was a fairly common thing for a lot of people, whether as novelty items or just for the sake of continuing a hobby, but to have a whole studio made it that much more obvious to Seifer just how much Squall and his father were musically inclined. 

"Hm, oh yeah, my dad still does a lot of stuff musically," the brunette replied idly to Seifer's obvious shock that Laguna had an entire studio built into their basement. It wasn't that strange really, at least not to Squall. His parents had bought the house when his mother was still pregnant with him and his father had still been heavily involved with his band, still riding the waves of fame. He took another gulp of water from the bottle before leaning forward to put it on the table between his spread feet before asking curiously, "Do you play anything?" The distraction from his thoughts was a welcome one and he grasped onto the conversation with renewed vigor. Blue-grey dropped to stare blindly at his lap where his water bottle had rested previously and where his right hand rested unmoving against his inner thigh.

When asked if he played anything, Seifer nodded almost reluctantly. "Yeah. Piano. A 'classical' instrument. Honestly, I think my dad paid for the lessons just to justify having one in the house," the blond confessed, feeling a bit self-conscious over the fact. He wondered if the kind of instrument he could play would bother Squall, if imagining his broad, jock self banging at the keys of the delicate piano would make the brunette laugh. His father had insisted that he learn to play and so he had. Because he had been forced into it and subsequently been subjected to the repeated overbearing criticism of his dad regardless of how hard he practiced and how good he had actually become, he didn't much care for the instrument anymore. He'd even went so far as to quit playing it altogether the previous year. Oddly enough, being with Squall and seeing his passion for his music, Seifer found himself wondering if he could still play as he had once.

To Seifer's surprise, Squall neither laughed, nor did he seem too shocked by the blond's words. Instead he looked sort of thoughtful. "Piano, huh. I'm actually not surprised by that, though I might have thought more along the lines of violin or something; it'd be more refined to your dad, I imagine," the brunette responded after a moment or two, cracking an easy smile at Seifer as he reclined against the cushions casually.

Seifer chuckled under his breath, "Heh. You'd be right about that, but I was a bit of a klutz when I was younger. I don't think a Violin would have survived long in my 'capable hands'. Think my dad kinda grasped that too, plus we already had the piano, so he probably figured there was no use in spending more money to get me something else and how badly could I really mess up a monster grand piano?" He graced Squall with that same roguishly handsome lopsided grin as he explained his theory about his piano lessons, his insecurities effectively dispelled. "What about you? I mean, you sing and play guitar, you play anything else?"

"Yeah sure, I can play a bit of percussion and piano. I'm not half bad, but it doesn't compare to guitar which I can play in my sleep. My dad on the other hand can play pretty much anything," Squall replied, a lazy smile ghosting over his mouth as he laid his head back against the back of the couch again, turning it to the side to look at Seifer. The arm he'd had resting on his thigh came to rest over his stomach, fingers dangling at his side in the space between his slim waist and his other arm still laying on the cushion between the two of them. His left foot bounced slightly against the table.

Seifer let out a low whistle, "Jeeze kid, you sure know how to make a guy feel inadequate, I mean fuck Squall, you play and sing, you can read Shakespeare like a boss, you have an awesome ride that is your's. Your room is a fuckin' palace and I'm pretty sure you weren't just taking notes in class to stave off the boredom. Is there anything you can't do?"

Squall blinked slowly, trying to process Seifer's ridiculous and surprisingly accurate exclamation. He snorted suddenly, giving his head a shake. When he managed to compose himself, he gave Seifer an intense look before responding in a deadly serious tone, "Eat pussy." He could only hang onto the serious expression for as long as it took for the blond to grasp what he had said and pull an absolutely hilarious face to which Squall could not contain his laughter, folding into himself as he laughed. Seifer's expression was priceless. He had clearly not been expecting such an answer, perhaps not even expecting one at all and when Squall had provided one, the look of complete shocked embarrassment was too much for the lithe brunette. His answer was honest at least.

Seifer jerked as he seemed to pull himself together, closing his mouth which he hadn't noticed was hanging open slightly and shook his head, blinking several times. He rubbed the back of his neck as he seemed to rethink over the brunette's words once again and couldn't help the grin that crept onto his lips. "You know what, I don't think I'm much good at that particular act either. It takes a certain kind of man to perfect it," he said after a minute, unable to stop himself from laying his own comment out. Squall only chuckled before reaching to give Seifer's hand, that was only inches from his own on the couch cushion, a mockingly sympathetic pat. At the feel of the cool fingertips against his warm skin, Seifer shivered despite his best efforts to squash the reaction before the brunette could catch it. The best he could do was not pull his hand away. He didn't want Squall to think he was disgusted by his touch or something, especially since it had been an innocent one. Squall for his part pretended not to notice the tension or the shiver that ran through the taller boy when their hands made contact, instead removing his fingers from warm, tan skin with a casual slowness. 

Squall sobered after a few more long seconds, strightening himself a bit in the cushions, sparing a glance to the movie playing on the screen before them before he looked down, a pensive expression slipping over pretty features. "You know, I've always loved music, even when I was little; that's why my dad started teaching me so young. My mum used to say that when I was a baby, she couldn't get me to sleep unless she sang to me, otherwise I'd just scream and scream... She always sang me this one song whenever I was upset..." he said quietly, smiling wistfully, a bittersweet look in the smokey blue depths of his eyes as he stared at the contrast between their two hands on the cushion beside him without really seeing at all. He missed her singing...

"I take it you can still remember the song. Some things are just like that, I guess; they stick with you," Seifer's response was delayed as though it had taken him that time to carefully choose what he wanted to say, and in reality it had because the look he could see on the other teen's face made the moment entirely serious and he just knew that the wrong words would shatter the intimate moment. The wanting in the brunette's tone was unmistakable. Seifer wasn't entirely sure why, but he had an undeniable urge to comfort Squall at that moment, as though he had forgotten about the kind of boy Squall was supposed to be, that he was supposed to avoid contact with him at all costs. It didn't matter. Seifer's hand crept over the mere centimeters of space between their fingers and enveloped Squall's hand in his own, giving it a soft squeeze of support. Squall didn't react to the touch immediately, simply allowing it, watching his pale, painted fingers disappear beneath the large tanned hand with a detached gaze.

"Yeah, I remember. It would be hard to forget, really. 'You are my Sunshine.' It was mum's favourite song, don't ask me why; I wouldn't know. She used to call me sunshine; she'd say that if she hadn't named me for the beauty of the storm, I'd've been named for the sun that came after..." Squall's voice was barely more than a whisper, a soft, sad half smile on his lips. Seifer could say nothing in response. The song was vaguely familiar to him, but the melancholy beauty in Squall at that moment took his voice and he remained silent, just watching the other boy. Squall squeezed Seifer's warm fingers that had wrapped around his before he suddenly seemed to realize just what his fingers were doing and removed them, pressing his now chilly left hand on top of his right, both resting comfortably on his stomach, a deep blush staining his cheeks. Seifer didn't say anything when Squall pulled away; he figured it would be best for the both of them if they pretended like neither of them had wanted the physical contact either now or previously and it had simply been accidental.

"Hey, what about your mum? You don't talk about her much," Squall inquired abruptly, trying to cover up his awkward motion in the moment previous as he shifted towards Seifer a bit, focusing his gaze on him. The other boy had made a few remarks that made it seem as though he wasn't at all fond of his mother, but Squall was curious what had made him so bitter. He'd told the blond some rather personal things about his own and it seemed only fair he should return the favour.

"I don't talk about her at all if I can help it. She married my dad when he got into politics and was making all the good connections, had me because that's what politicians' wives do, then she divorced him when he lost the election when I was ten. She took everything she wanted from him. I haven't heard from her since." She was alive, somewhere, probably. His gaze shifted away from Squall, unable to maintain eye contact as his posture became more tense than minutes before. Yeah, his mother had taken everything she wanted from his father, but left Seifer; she hadn't wanted Seifer, not enough to take him with her at least.

Guilt washed through Squall immediately for having asked something that was obviously a sore subject for the other male. He sucked his bottom lip once again, trying to find the right words to say to the other. He could tell by the way that Seifer had tensed up that he had some issues with his mother and what she'd done. From his words, there was the implication that her son hadn't been one of the things she'd wanted to take from his father and had left him behind in lieu of other more important things.

"That's really shitty," the soft spoken brunette finally managed, "Sorry I made you talk about her. I don't usually talk about mine either. You're the first person I've talked to about her outside of family since she died..." he finished, hoping to give the blond some kind of consolation, understanding in his eyes, though the reasons he didn't talk about his mother were quite different from Seifer's, there was an underlying pain that was the same.

"Everyone's got baggage, some people just got heavier shit to carry than others, no point in whining about it," the brawny older boy replied after a moment, shrugging one shoulder. The grief with his mom had happened over seven years ago and it shouldn't be so bothersome, but it was that bit of angst that caused much of his cynicism and his pragmatic attitude toward relationships for the most part. Not that his father helped that attitude; being who he was in politics, he was always backing the winners to save face and quick to pretend no involvement when favour was lost. He gave a small shake of his head in disgust. The feel of cool fingers on his hand again made Seifer jump, but he didn't move away, flipping his hand over, palm up beneath Squall's instead and grasping it much like children did with a parent, a soft smile replacing the disgusted sneer that had taken over handsome features as he looked at Squall.

Squall could feel Seifer looking at him, but he avoided looking back, embarrassed by the innocence of the act of holding the other boy's hand in comfort. It was a far cry from the kinds of things he usually did with guys, but it was, in a way, so much better. "True... It's better to be indifferent. There is no pain if the things around you hold no value, right?" Squall agreed, referring to his own and Seifer's behaviours at school, both were guarded but in entirely different ways. It was clear to the brunette from their serious conversation that much of Seifer's attitude could be chalked up to a front, an act to keep himself safe.

Squall's embarrassed glance away wasn't lost on his companion and as if the feeling was contagious, Seifer's own embarrassment crept into his skin, burning his ears as he averted his gaze from the pale youth as well. "Yeah..." he trailed off in quiet agreement. The fewer things he held dear, the less likely it was that those things could be used against him. The brunette beauty sighed heavily next to him, hugging himself around the middle with his unoccupied arm.

Deciding it was time for another subject change, Squall closed his eyes briefly, "What do you think the group you were with at the bar are going to have to say on Monday?"

"About what; your show or my disappearance?" Seifer asked, already prepared for the shift in subjects; Squall seemed to be able to smoothly change topics like the wind when he wanted to avoid delving deeper into one that might be more painful that it was worth to sate curiosity. He didn't wait for Squall's response, answering his own question and Squall's at once, "They are either gonna assume they lost me and do their best to cover it up, probably by saying they thought I went home on my own. As for your playing though, it's hard to say. They were pretty shocked to see you up on the stage just like I was. The ones who regained their sense first started jeering at you and the rest followed after, posturing to stay in their good graces. They can't honestly deny the quality of the performance so my guess is they won't say a damn thing or they'll lie. Depends on the group that wins out. Best case; new rumours are added to the already ridiculous file they have on you and nothing really changes. Worst case; they try to become your new best friends in the hopes that when you become famous, you'll remember them and invite them to your fancy parties."

"Yeah well, I think it'd be best if they act like they never saw it in the first place... I hadn't planned on anyone I knew from school being there to hear it," the pale boy said in reply. Seifer was probably right; nothing would change and that was probably for the best. He tried to ignore the warmth that spread through him as their hands remained curled around one another, the strange intimacy being one he was not used to. It wasn't sexual and he wasn't sure how to deal with it, so he didn't mention it. He didn't really want Seifer to pull away. Maybe it was okay as long as they were hidden away here in Squall's room where no one could know that they were holding hands like little kids. He let his head lull against the back of the couch, closing his eyes, unsure what else to say. The situation they were in at the moment was dangerous; even though he had just said that getting close to other people only made you vulnerable to being hurt, here he was getting cozy with the handsome jock. He was only becoming more and more attached to the other male; it was only a matter of time before he wouldn't be able to let go of Seifer and he was painfully aware of it in that moment.

They needed a lighter subject, something that Squall could cling to, something that would bring them back into the safety of familiar territory, something he could use to flirt, to cover up what was actually happening, but it seemed cheap to do so. So he stayed quiet, just leaning back in his seat, reveling in the comfort of Seifer's larger hand wrapped around his own.

Squall had suddenly gone quiet and Seifer wasn't sure exactly why, though if he had to hazard a guess, it had everything to do with the chaste embrace their hands were currently in and the fact that neither one of them was moving too quickly to separate this time around. If Squall still wanted the contact, Seifer wasn't going to deny him as the brunette was helping him with a few painful memories of his own and even though Squall was probably the least likely person Seifer should have been sharing these things with, it didn't matter; just having someone to talk to about it without judgement was therapeutic. No apologies, no advice, just an exchange of pain and understanding between two boys who had never been meant to be friends, but had somehow ended up just that. 

The movie came to an end; the credits rolling across the screen, but the two of them just remained still, not bothering to change the channel, since it wouldn't matter what was on the screen anyways. Seifer reveled in the feeling of companionship, never having fully accepted the deep seated loneliness that ate away at him until he knew what it felt like not to be lonely here in the androgynous singer's company. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered if there would ever be more than this, if Squall and he would ever end up further. He quickly dismissed the possibility with a minute shake of his head. He was still pretty convinced that he was far from Squall Leonhart's ideal type and could hardly imagine himself at the brunette's side as anything more than whatever this was. Aside from that, as far as either of them thought, Seifer was straight, even if that little voice buried in Seifer's mind was asking him if that was the truth then why was he enjoying the company of the beautiful boy so much more than any of the pretty girls he'd ever been with before.

Time both slowed and quickened as the television played whatever random program that came on after the movie they'd been watching. It made little difference to Squall what was on or how time passed, but before he knew it, it was late and they'd simply been sitting in amicable silence, holding hands as they watched. Squall wouldn't remember what it was they watched later as his mind was on other things, like trying desperately to keep himself from leaning onto the other male's lap, cuddling with him and the simple want to kiss him.

The fingers of his right hand rubbed against the soft skin on the underside of his right upper arm to keep them occupied. He stole a couple glances at Seifer when he thought the other boy wasn't paying attention, a shy blush painting his pale cheeks a rosy hue. Squall was entirely out of his element here in his room with another boy. At school, he was someone else; powerful, in control, a tempter and seducer. But at home, that wasn't his life. At home; he was just Squall. Home was a place he could relax. Seifer had been let in on a whim; Squall had never brought someone home with him before, not even when he was a small child. It was no wonder his father had given him such looks when the two of them had shown up together. He couldn't act the way he would have had they been at school, hiding his embarrassment under coy grins and batted lashes, a teasing comment, anything, but here in the comfort of his room, he couldn't manage to pull the mask on.

An inaudible sigh escaped through bowed lips as Squall glanced at the glowing numbers on the stereo that displayed the time. It was passed midnight. Cloudy blue eyes stared at Seifer, drawn unconsciously, the brunette forgetting that he was supposed to be watching the television, not the other male. The other was really handsome, especially now that he didn't have that sort of pompous air around him that he seemed to have at school. He wondered if anyone else ever got to see him like this, so unguarded. 'Beautiful...' the sentiment whispered through his thoughts without hesitation and Squall knew without a doubt that the other boy was just that.

"I think, maybe I should head to bed," he said quietly, feeling his skin getting warmer as he watched Seifer. "I'll just get you a pillow and blanket from my closet... Uh if you need the bathroom, it's up in the loft... or there's one on the main floor."

Seifer wasn't unaware of the eyes that were watching him; he just didn't seem to mind and let Squall look all he liked. After all, it was only fair since Seifer had stared at the brunette plenty as well. He cast a grin at the blushing boy from time to time, but said nothing, quickly returning his attention to the TV, relaxing, letting the previous tension fade to nothing, but an idle memory. He could see the rosy flush colouring Squall's cheeks every time he glanced his way and found himself swallowing, throat suddenly dry. The younger teen looked so vulnerable like that, blushing and shy, as if he were a totally different kid from the sultry incubus he had been at school and even on stage and Seifer knew that he was seeing something precious.

Maybe that was why he felt like it was alright to let his own guard down. He couldn't imagine the beautiful, shy creature next to him doing anything to take advantage of him in that moment of weakness and so he simply dropped the facade. He couldn't recall the last time he had permitted himself to simply exist as he was with someone else; it was relaxing. It was a relief, to simply be himself as he truly was without any pretense. He only nodded when Squall finally broke the silence that had stretched between them for so long. He released the hand in his reluctantly, disappointed at the feeling of loss, but unwilling to voice it for fear of what that twinge inside him implied. Instead, he shoved it as far back in his mind as he could and let Squall go as though it were no problem at all.

Squall shivered uncontrollably as Seifer's fingers loosened and released his own, the warmth lingering and spreading up his arm as his body greedily soaked up the contact that it seemed to know it would not be having any more of that night. He tried to cover the shiver by coughing softly, before standing up, slipping off of the sofa in a soft rustle of fabric on fabric.

"Just give me a sec to grab it," Squall requested as he stepped around the table and made his way back to the stairs leading up to his loft. He took an extra pillow from a high shelf in his closet along with a navy blue comforter with stars and moons all over it that had been his favourite as a child but was now used as a spare. He carried the bundle back down the steps, unable to wrap his arms around it fully.

He dropped it unceremoniously directly onto Seifer with a decidedly playful grin. "Need anything else? I can tuck you in if you want?" he offered jokingly, dispelling the awkward embarrassment that was the result of their intimacy minutes before.

Seifer had watched Squall as he'd gone up the stairs, his long shirt swaying around milky, smooth thighs that had no business being on a boy in Seifer's opinion. If there was a God, he had either done something very right or very wrong in making Squall Leonhart; no boy had a right to be as lovely as the brunette youth was. He watched him until he disappeared from view and gave his head a forceful shake, realizing that he was mistaken; God wouldn't have made Squall Leonhart, only the likes of Satan would have made someone who could tempt either sex to near insanity and give him an attitude to match. He gave himself another little shake before the soft sound of Squall's steps brought his focus back to the steps where a starry ball with legs made it's descent. Seifer chuckled at the sight. It was tossed over his form unexpectedly and he had to wriggle a bit to poke his head up through the rumpled blanket, grinning broadly when he managed to free himself from beneath it and he shifted to recline onto the comfortable sofa, settling the plush pillow behind him before straightening the comforter down his front.

When the playful offer was made, he stuck his tongue out at the cheeky brunette, briefly considering accepting the mock offer if only to make Squall blush again, "Hmm... Nah. Think I'll be alright. Night Cupcake."

Squall inclined his head with a smile, choosing to ignore the nickname. "Suit yourself," he said as he flipped the lights off, revealing glow in the dark stars on the steps to his loft. "Goodnight Seifer," he replied quietly as he made his way back up the narrow stairs. 

He crawled into his bed, pulling the plush crimson duvet over himself, feeling oddly relaxed, even knowing that Seifer was going to be sleeping just below. It was strange, knowing he had another boy, one he was certainly attracted to alone in his room, and yet he was doing nothing about it. He snorted softly, curling up on his side, facing the window. He stared at the pale orb of the moon just visible through the slated blinds. He didn't remember falling asleep as he stared up at it, thoughts circulating repeatedly over the completely unexpected, but altogether pleasant evening. 

 

 

TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authour's note: Good Lord, it took a million years (a week approximately) to edit this chapter. Anyways, the typos and grammar errors should have been weeded out for the most part, I hope. If any of you notice more, please feel free to point them out.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, if anyone was interested, the lyrics used are 1) Out of This World by Bush, 2) Mexico by Hedley, and finally, 
> 
> 3) Nancy Boy by Placebo.


	6. Brave New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Laguna embarrasses the boys.

Boys Like You

Chapter Six: Brave New World

 

Squall woke early the next morning, the light pouring in between the slats of his window rousing him. The windows below were covered by heavy curtains, keeping the brightness of the sun from being as intrusive in the den area of his room and Squall almost wished he’d thought to cover his bedroom window with the same opaque fabric. The brunette wrinkled his nose as the light crossed over thick lashes before heavy lids fluttered open, pupils narrowing in the brightness. He blinked a few times before he stretched out, uncurling himself, pale arms reaching up above his sleep-mussed head, fingers flexing as a yawn took over his face. Relaxing from his stretch, he sat up and glanced at the digital clock set on the nightstand; it was just passed nine o’clock. 

He slid from beneath the blankets with all the grace of a large cat, leaving the duvet in a rumpled pile on the mattress as he padded silently to the top of the loft stairs. He peered down, warring between surprise and relief upon seeing his impromptu guest still asleep on his sofa. A small part of him had been afraid that the tall blonde wouldn’t be there at all, asleep or otherwise. Seifer had been relatively intoxicated the previous evening and Squall had worried that if Seifer had wakened, now sober, would have decided that the situation was too dangerous for his reputation and disappear before the brunette had had a chance to wake.

Squall was relieved that his worry had been unnecessary as he looked over the other boy still sprawled there on his sofa, tangled in the brunette’s childhood bedding. The lithe teen found a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, shaking his head at the picture Seifer presented, all long limbs, open mouth and soft snoring. It was pretty clear that he wouldn’t be up anytime soon. Squall turned away from the half-buried blonde, still smiling to himself as he went through his closet into the en-suite bathroom.

‘Should have enough time for a shower before he wakes up,’ he thought idly as he used the toilet. He flushed and washed his hands before pulling his over-sized shirt over his head and dropping his shorts and underwear to the floor in a haphazard pile. He turned the steamy water on stepped into the glass-enclosed shower, not bothering to pull the sliding door that separated bathroom from closet closed. He wasn’t exactly in the habit of closing himself in considering he’d never really had to worry about anyone walking in on him before. His dad rarely came up to his loft anymore now that he was a teenager and he wasn’t accustomed to having any other guests in his room. 

He sang as he washed his hair, “Hey Jude, don’t make it bad, take a sad song and make it better…” His melodic voice rose over the static of the shower spray as he sang to himself, swaying unconsciously as he went through his regular bathing ritual, in a better mood than he’d woken up in in a long time.

Seifer woke to the dull hum of running water accompanied by the vague sound of someone singing. He stretched leisurely, eyes remaining closed as he yawned. He’d lost his shirt sometime during the night, one of his pant legs had ridden up and was brunched around his knee, and he was missing the sock on the opposite foot, but he couldn’t remember ever having woken so pleasantly after a night of drinking. 

A quick glance at his surroundings reminded him of just where he’d crashed the night before and he smiled unconsciously, scrubbing one hand through his bedhead before he tossed off the covers. His bladder was making a serious complaint and it took him a moment to recall just where Squall had said the bathrooms were located. The brunette singer’s was obviously in use, but he vaguely remembered the other youth saying there was a second one on the main floor. 

He fidgeted a minute, hesitating to navigate the unfamiliar house on his own, almost hoping that Squall would finish showering in the next ten seconds so that Seifer wouldn’t have to do just that. When the lilting tones of the other boys singing voice continued without pause, the burly blond let out a rough groan and reluctantly slipped from the sofa. Choosing to forgo finding his missing shirt and sock in lieu of relieving his aching bladder, he half-staggered his way out of the room, back to the end of the hall and down the stairs, and through the kitchen, squinting in the morning light as he tried to remember exactly where Squall had said the other bathroom was. So concentrated was he that he completely missed the other man seated at the breakfast island.

Laguna sat on one of the kitchen stools, sipping a mug of arid coffee and reading the morning paper through a pair of silver, wire-rimmed glasses perched on his elegant nose. He was wearing a pair of black silk pajamas with his initials embroidered in cursive on the left breast pocket, an open burgundy robe over top and a pair of navy slippers. He turned to look at Seifer as the youth entered the kitchen, obviously in search of something. A single dark brow lifted as Laguna took in the tall blonde’s disheveled appearance, smiling into his mug as clever green eyes followed the youth over the rim; Seifer looked as if he’d had either a really rough night or an extremely good one. He didn’t seem to have noticed that he had an audience. It was clear to Laguna that Seifer had just woken up. 

“Lost?” the elder man asked, taking pity on the youth, setting his half emptied coffee mug back on the marble island top, long fingers remained curled around the ceramic handle of the light green mug, paper still held loosely in his other hand. 

Seifer visibly jumped, startled by the sound of Squall’s father’s voice. “Eh? Ah, a bit I guess. Squall said there was a bathroom down here…” he trailed off, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly and attempting to cover his embarrassment with a feigned yawn, face heating with a blush.

“Do you know…? Well, I mean of course you’d know… Um… Where is it exactly?” The tall boy managed finally, feeling self-conscious. The way Laguna was looking at him made him nervous for reasons he couldn’t begin to explain. He felt as if he were guilty of something, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what that something might be. He shifted his weight from foot to foot uncomfortably and fought the urge to hightail it back to Squall’s room, bladder be damned. 

Laguna’s smile broadened as jade eyes watched Seifer fidget, obviously uncomfortable beneath his unexpected scrutiny without his son present. Deciding to cut the kid some slack, he gestured with his paper to the opposite end of the kitchen. “Mhmm, through the dining room and to the right,” he directed casually before turning his attention back to his paper. He chuckled quietly, watching Seifer through a slanted green gaze as he made his way to the bathroom. ‘Squallie’s new friend sure is cute.’ Laguna was happy for his son, completely unaware that he was utterly misunderstanding the situation. He sipped his coffee idly as he pretended to read his paper, waiting for the blonde to return so that he could speak with him more and perhaps tease him, just a little. He’d never met any of Squall’s lovers before after all and he wasn’t about to squander the chance to have a little fun with it. 

Seifer couldn’t escape to the bathroom fast enough; he could still feel the burn of embarrassment in his ears as he closed and locked the door behind himself, clearly used to his privacy being invaded. As he finished his business with an audible sigh of relief, he heard the water cut off on the second floor and hesitated leaving the relative safety of the bathroom until he was certain Squall would be in the kitchen. Feeling silly staring at the hand towel on the back of the closed door for several seconds, he took a deep breath and left the bathroom, resolved to deal with the former rock star for as long as he might need to until Squall came to his rescue. 

Seifer adjusted his pant leg before exiting the bathroom once more, inhaling a deep breath in preparation for his return to the kitchen where Squall’s father hadn’t moved an inch, still looking over his paper and sipping his mug of coffee. The tall teen hadn’t caught on to Laguna’s misunderstood assumptions in regards to his and Squall’s relationship. He ran long fingers through short, sleep-tousled blond locks and pasted on a smile as he moved further into the kitchen area.

Laguna looked up when Seifer approached. “You know, you must be pretty important to my son since he brought you home,” he commented idly, setting his paper flat on the marble counter top, focusing his full attention on the blonde youth. 

As a father, Laguna had never tried to oppress his son, allowing Squall to simply be himself, whomever he may turn out to be. Seifer was the first boy his son had ever brought home, but Laguna was not naïve enough to believe that the handsome young man was the first boy his seventeen year old son had been with. It was obvious though that the Almasy boy was something special to Squall since he had gone so far as to introduce the other boy and have him spend the night. Being that as it were, Laguna wanted to know just what kind of boy Seifer was, especially knowing what kind of man his father was. He didn’t want Seifer hurting his son if he could help it. 

Upstairs, Squall toweled his hair idly, humming as he stepped out of his bathroom and into his closet space. He dropped the towel to the floor, plucking up a pair of black and red checkered boxer briefs and slipping them on. No longer entirely nude, he took his time dressing, a pair of red skinny jeans molding to his shapely legs and a simple black v-neck tee covered the lithe chest, followed by a black zip up sweater with the album cover for Our Lady Peace’s “Happiness is not a Fish” stenciled onto the back of the heavy material of the hooded garment. He zipped it up halfway before threading a white studded belt through the belt loops of his slim-legged jeans, buckling the double dice shaped buckle into place with practiced ease. He sat on the edge of his bed to pull on a pair of black ankle socks before he proceeded back into the bathroom to brush his teeth and style his hair, entirely unaware of what was taking place between his father and his new crush downstairs. 

He’d noticed that the other teen was missing from the lower floor of his room, but had simply assumed that Seifer had gone in search of the second bathroom upon waking, considering his shirt seemed to be half buried under the edge of Squall's sofa and he very much doubted the other teen had left topless as he must be. Thinking nothing more of it, certain that Seifer had not up and left on his own, Squall went about his usual routine. 

Seifer swallowed dryly, smile fading from his mouth as Laguna turned his full attention towards him. “Uh well I guess. I wouldn’t say special really. I mean, we talked a bit on Thursday and I kinda ran into him last night when he finished his gig,” he said in explanation; there wasn’t anything too significant about their meeting that Seifer could see, but it was pretty clear that Squall’s father had another opinion on the matter. He felt as if he were being sized up, much as he did when the press agents came calling about his father or when he asked a girl’s parents if he could escort her to homecoming; it was a familiar, albeit uncomfortable feeling. 

He crossed his left arm over his torso, rubbing at his right arm self-consciously. “He did say that he didn’t usually bring guests home and… He asked that I keep the address to myself,” he added awkwardly after a second or two of uncomfortable silence from the older man, running his free hand up to rub at the back of his neck.

Laguna’s jade gaze followed the nervous movements, fully aware that his scrutiny was making the boy uncomfortable as he nodded to his words. “Hm, that would probably be for the best. I know that Squall does not always get on well with his peers. Which has me wondering, just why is it that a boy like yourself is interested in Squall exactly?” Laguna wanted to blatantly ask what the blonde’s intentions with his son were, but abstained, opting for a more subtle wording of the question. He didn’t exactly want to scare the Almasy boy off since it was fairly clear that Squall liked him, but he was concerned whether or not Seifer was as genuine as Squall in his interest or if he would only be hurting him. He had good reason to be suspicious after all. 

The year before Squall had begun high school had been an extremely difficult one. Squall hadn’t spoken more than a handful of words for a majority of the year in which he had found his mother dead. Laguna had been forced to pull him out of his last year of elementary school and take him to a therapist according to the school’s "strong" recommendation. 

Eventually, Squall had begun speaking again, though he had avoided talking about his mother vehemently. When he’d started high school later that fall, he had seemed to be getting better steadily until halfway through the ninth grade when he very suddenly and dramatically changed. He came out as a homosexual which had neither surprised nor concerned Laguna in the least. He’d had his suspicions already at the time, but had said nothing, patiently waiting for his son to come out to him on his own terms. It had never made a difference to Laguna whom his son loved so long as the person did right by him. Raine’s death had taken a serious toll on his son and himself, though he himself had been expecting the possibility of her death for some years before she had finally given in to her depression and ended her own life. Squall on the other hand, had been blindsided by his beloved mother’s suicide; it had completely devastated the thirteen year old, especially after being the one to have found her in the bathroom that had once been on the second floor. 

Laguna had been left bewildered as to what to do in order to relieve his son’s pain, already struggling to deal with his own as it was. He assumed the drastic changes in behaviour that Squall had subsequently gone through during his first year of high school had been a product of transitioning to the new environment without his mother’s comforting presence and that his subsequent failed first relationship and promiscuity were the result of some need Squall had to fill a void within himself, to feel in control when he was unable to control the other things in his life, or so the therapist had said. The therapist had also said that there was no way to know how long the behaviour may carry on which had worried Laguna a great deal, but he had assured himself that Squall would be alright, eventually.

Seifer’s presence gave Laguna hope that maybe, just maybe Squall was finally recovering. The dark haired man laid his chin in his palm as he sipped his coffee, feigning ignorance as he watched the broad teen squirm under his scrutiny. 

Seifer felt like he was being given the third degree by Squall’s dad for no good reason as far as Seifer could tell. He didn’t like it. The guy had been so laid back the night before; he wasn’t sure what was prompting all the questions, but it was Squall’s dad and really the questions shouldn’t have been all that difficult to answer. Having his interest in the pretty brunette boy questioned so blatantly made Seifer stop to consider it himself. He was interested in pursuing a friendship with Squall; they seemed to have a lot in common though their worlds were entirely different and the eccentric youth certainly had more depth and personality than the group Seifer’s father approved of, but he wasn't entirely sure if that was all it was. There was something dangerously alluring about Squall Leonhart.

Still, Seifer was straight, totally and strictly heterosexual in all senses of the word. After all, his father was a sitting congressman, aiming for senator the following year and a proud member of the Republican Party in which no son of his could possibly be anything but perfectly normal. Seifer had plenty of pressure on him already from his old man; he could hardly afford to be anything less that heterosexual, no matter how heart-breakingly intriguing and beautiful Squall Leonhart may be. He couldn’t afford to disappoint his father any more than he already had during the past summer. 

“His, well… Squall-ness, I guess. He is a pretty unique guy,” he finally responded, floundering for a better explanation. He cleared his throat.

“I mean, he approached me to start with and you know, he just wouldn’t take no for an answer. I’m getting to know him now I guess and the more I do, the more I want to. He’s fascinating.” Realizing he had said far more than he had meant to, Seifer rubbed the back of his neck in a sheepish motion, embarrassment making the tips of his ears burn with renewed vigor. 

Laguna’s gaze didn’t waver as Seifer stumbled over his answer, gauging the words to be as genuine and honest as any, if a little vague on the finer details, but perhaps that was because Seifer was still coming to terms with his own feelings; knowing what Seifer’s upbringing must have been like, Laguna had no doubts about the closeted nature of the blond youth. He made a soft noise of approval in his throat before he spoke in return. 

“I never would have thought that Almasy’s boy would become friends with someone like my son… I suppose it was indeed Squall’s doing as you said. He certainly has a way with people doesn’t he? He draws them in even when he says nothing at all; he gets that from his mother, I think,” Laguna finally said, pride and a little nostalgia colouring his tone. That particular charisma was going to take Squall far in his future career.

“Would you care for some coffee?” the elder man offered belatedly, as though he were just as unused to having guests as his son and seemingly bringing a  
close to his interrogation, satisfied with the boy’s answers for the time being. 

Seifer gave an audible sigh of relief, grateful for the break in the uncomfortable conversation. He didn’t much care for talking about Squall when he wasn’t there; he had enough of that at their school.

“Coffee would be great.” He could just make out the sound of Squall leaving his room and heading down the hall, steps faltering ever so slightly midway before continuing on. 

“You can help yourself,” Laguna’s voice broke into his musings and Seifer blinked at him, “There’s a rule in our house that if you spend the night, you’re no longer a guest. You might as well be family,” the elder man finished with a sly grin and a hint of mischief glinting in the jade of his eyes. Squall entered the kitchen just as Laguna finished speaking, stormy eyes widening upon catching the tail end of his father’s words. That so called rule was only supposed to apply to lovers and family friends.

“Dad! We’re just friends. We’ve only hung out twice for God’s sake. Besides, we’ve never even followed that stupid rule, even when uncle Jasper visited,” Squall chastised, trying desperately to get his father to grasp the point. Laguna merely blinked lazily at him. Squall released a soft huff as he turned to get a couple of mugs from the cupboard just above the coffee pot. 

Laguna scoffed, “That’s because no one’s ever stayed over before and Jasper doesn’t count since we never actually went to sleep, just got drunk and reminisced ‘til the sun came up,” he argued, sipping his cooling coffee nonchalantly, unfazed by his son’s hot denial of any intimate relationship with Seifer. Even if the two teens weren’t involved, it was clear to Laguna that it would only be a matter of time until they were. Squall just rolled his eyes in response and filled the mugs with steaming coffee from the pot.

“Sorry I didn’t rescue you sooner,” Squall said as he abruptly turned his attention to his guest, gaze lingering over the broad teen’s naked chest, smoky depths trailing down over the defined abdominal muscles before he could stop himself. He sucked on his lower lip briefly, tearing his gaze away with some force. 

“What do you like in your coffee?”

Seifer blinked once, twice, completely thrown off by the odd interaction that had just taken place between father and son. Squall’s rescue saved him from further confusion. Belatedly, shock flowed through him, followed closely by heated embarrassment. “Uhh…” he breathed as realization settled into his head, Laguna’s angle suddenly quite clear. Squall’s father was under the impression that they had… and that he and Squall were…

He could feel the heat spreading over the back of his neck, looking between Squall and Laguna for a moment. It would be a lie to say that he had not considered what Laguna was implying himself, but he had his own little closet that he wasn’t quite ready to leave yet and he still wasn’t entirely certain if liking the androgynous brunette made him gay or not; Squall may just be a special case or something. Of course, all of that was entirely hypothetical because he wasn’t about to test it out; if his dad were to find out that he was even thinking he might be into guys, he’d kill Seifer. It wasn’t a wrinkle his father would care for in his plans. Just thinking about his father’s reaction to something like that made Seifer uneasy.

“Yeah, good timing. I might have said something incriminating if you hadn’t stepped in when you did,” he said in response to Squall’s words, a crooked smile slipping onto his lips as he forced his mind to settle, focusing instead on the present in which the pretty boy was waiting for him to speak, “Uh, just a bit of cream and like three spoons of sugar.” He could feel Squall’s eyes on him when the other teen looked him over, could feel the interest there, but didn’t say anything in response to it. It wouldn’t do to draw attention to Squall’s behaviour, especially when Seifer wasn’t entirely sure he didn’t like the way the slim brunette was looking at him in the first place. And he’d be a hypocrite if he did since he kind of liked looking at Squall too, at least so long as no one was there to catch him doing so.

The rest of the morning passed by pleasantly, a breakfast of stuffed omelettes and buttered toast courtesy of Squall’s cooking and then a hot shower for Seifer while Squall played his guitar in the lower floor of his bedroom, practicing one of his many songs, one that was particularly emotional for the brunette.  
Seifer was dressed in borrowed clothes courtesy of Squall’s father’s expansive closet and plans had been made for him to spend the rest of the weekend with his new friend, which suited the tall blond just fine; it was certainly better than spending it at home all by himself, being that his father was out of the house again on another business trip. Squall showed Seifer the studio in their basement, where the tall blonde realized just how much of a rock star Laguna had been and he saw a picture of Squall’s mother when she had been a young woman. Squall looked just like her, a bra size and hair extensions away from being her clone.  
Squall spent that first day in the studio with Seifer, teaching him how to love the piano again and securing Seifer’s assistance for an upcoming music project the brunette had. Weeks passed with secret meetings outside of school where Squall and Seifer became friends, spending as much time as they could manage with each other when Seifer wasn’t busy keeping up appearances for his father and the kids he called friends within their high school. 

They didn't talk much during school, texting each other at lunch and when class was particularly boring. Squall flirted with Seifer when they did interact in front of their peers, playing the role of the coy seducer. But outside of school, they chatted, watched movies, played music, and just generally hung out together, steadily becoming closer with one another. Squall smiled more than he had in years now that he spent time with the other male, finally having made a friend. Laguna didn't complain, even knowing who Seifer's father was. He was happy to see his son living; with Seifer in his life, Squall didn't seem quite so lonely anymore.

 

TBC…


	7. Bigmouth Strikes Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rinoa is a sadistic bitch.

 

It was a Monday morning that should have been just the same as any other, but something was off. Squall was usually a subject of conversation, but most students avoided blatantly staring directly at him, especially after what had happened with Gregory during the first few weeks of school. On this particular Monday when Squall stepped out of his car into the morning light, without Seifer in tow as was unusual because of their arrangement in which Squall gave the blonde a ride almost daily, all eyes fell on him and didn't immediately flick away. Seifer's dad had actually had a day off and was taking his son to breakfast as a way of making up for the lost time between them, keeping up appearances for his campaign as far as his son was concerned and that meant Squall was on his own.

There were whispers constantly and they weren't the kind Squall was used to hearing. Finally, when lunch rolled around, he'd had enough. He wanted to know what it was, what they could possibly be saying in that tone that had the entire student body staring whenever he passed by. As he moved towards the cafeteria, someone stepped in his way.

Gregory's ex-girlfriend stood before Squall with a nasty smirk on her face, several girls and guys behind her including Greg and the jocks as well as the popular Rinoa Heartilly, queen of the bitch committee as support.

"Hey slut, I heard a little rumour about you the other day. I heard a couple years ago, your mom went and offed herself ‘cause she caught you blowing your dad or something and she was so disgusted, she just couldn’t live anymore. Guess it makes sense why you're so fucked up," she said, tone vicious as her words tore at the brunette.

No one was supposed to know about what had happened in regards to his mother’s death, about her mental instability that had lead to her eventual suicide, which Squall had been witness to. It had been a closed case and his father had had it kept out of the public's eye, using every connection he had so that Squall was able to go on at his school without being hounded by reporters, tabloids and the like.

Squall froze, paralyzed as her words made him turn cold inside and he couldn't say anything; his voice caught in his throat. He'd only ever told one person about what had happened; he’d only told Seifer. So how did she know? Stormy eyes caught sight of the wicked smirk on Rinoa’s lips behind the girl who’d spoken and that twisted grin said it all. She had been the one to tell Gregory's girlfriend and he could guess where she had heard it from... Seifer was practically her boyfriend at this point after all. He blinked rapidly, tears welling up in his eyes even as he fought to keep them back. He wanted to run, but his legs wouldn't move. Where the hell was Seifer anyways? How long did a fucking brunch take?

***

"Anyway Seifer, how has school been?" Alexander Almasy voiced the fairly standard question over their breakfast, making the expected small talk with his only son.

"Oh pretty good, I guess," Seifer said with a shrug, idly pushing his food around his plate, desperately wishing he was having breakfast with Squall and Laguna right about now. 

"And I've heard from Mike that you've been out a lot lately, almost all weekend, every weekend… friends?" his father asked, trying to sound casual, but nervous concern was lurking beneath the nonchalant tone. Seifer’s recent behaviour was rather out of character. He almost never stayed the night anywhere; and was rarely out past ten on Friday's, at least he had been at his previous school, not taking into consideration the accident with his car which was an entirely isolated incident.

"Yeah..." Seifer didn’t look up as he gave a bored response, shrugging disinterestedly.

Naturally, his dad thought the teen’s lack of comment meant the whole thing was sexual in nature and that Seifer was using nonchalance to cover up having a girlfriend. "... So... when will I meet her?"

Seifer choked on the orange juice he had just taken a sip of, chuckling and running one hand through his short hair. "I still don't have a girlfriend dad... Seriously," he shook his head to emphasize his words, emerald eyes flicking up to his father’s face for just a moment or two before falling back to his plate.

Mr. Almasy grinned knowingly, slapping the table with the palm of his hand, making a dull thud as it impacted the table. "Oh really... then who’s this Miss Heartily I keep hearing about? Another cheerleader, hm?" Alexander looked smug, crossing his thick, suited arms over his equally thick chest and for a moment, a playful, secretly proud look crossed his face, thinking his son had done quite well in catching himself an appropriate girl in high school. He thought it normal for Seifer to be interested in girls and to pursue one, especially one like Rinoa Heartilly from what he understood, but he didn't want Seifer to be stupid enough to get any girl pregnant and ruin his life.

 _Fuck…_ Seifer cursed mentally, not even bothering to question how his overbearing father had even found out about his subtle flirtation with the stupid head cheerleader, already aware of the elder Almasy’s spies. "We aren't, uh… Intimate if that is what you’re getting at dad,” he started uncomfortably, shifting in his chair, “And, much to her annoyance, I haven't been spending the weekends with her... How did you find out about that anyway?" He finished with what he knew was expected, as if he didn’t already know.

"I'm getting there… Mike told me he’d seen you with her quite a few times. You apparently have caused quite the stir in the right groups. Did you know that your girlfriend’s father was a reporter?” That bit of information was new to Seifer, but he dismissed it without much thought.

"So where have you been if not with her?" His father's suspicious tone cut through Seifer’s thoughts like a knife.

"Working on a project for a friend’s music final," he answered probably a little too quickly, but he couldn’t help it; he could not let Alexander Almasy know about a certain stormy eyed brunette with a bad reputation. His answer was an honest enough one, but he was still nervous that his father would somehow figure it out. 

They continued on in much the same manner, back and forth with light conversation, neither of them broaching any serious subject matter and Seifer was relieved that his father’s spies had not caught on to him and Squall and in turn had not told his father.

Eventually, the meal was concluded and the subsequent car ride to his school was awkward for Seifer. It was Mr. Almasy that broke the silence that had settled between them. "Seifer, you do know I love you right? I would spend more time at home if I could." Seifer was quiet for a long moment.

"Yeah... I know," was his eventual response, voice quiet. He hated this part of their talks most.

"But my work. You know I want to help fix this country right? Give you somewhere where you can live happily in the future, where you won’t be afraid to raise my grandchildren." Seifer snorted softly, pointedly looking out the window. He couldn't blame his dad, not really. The elder man was well-intentioned, but misguided. Politics were, amusingly enough, rarely something they discussed at home. His father just assumed that everyone agreed with him, including his son and Seifer had never managed to work up the guts to speak up about his differing beliefs, let alone mention that he was pretty sure he was developing feelings for another boy that his father would never approve of.

The tall blonde arrived just before lunch and he couldn’t get out of the car fast enough.

The school felt different, charged with energy somehow. He looked at the time, debating going to class, but it was kind of pointless since the students would all be out for lunch soon anyway. He went inside the doors to loiter in the little space in between the hallway and the doors leading out into the student parking lot, assuming he’d be able to catch a glimpse of Squall on his way out to his car as he usually did.

***

Rinoa let out a mock gasp, bringing one hand to her mouth for dramatic effect, "Oh my God, it's true, just look at him..."

"To tell the truth, I'm not surprised. Who'd want a faggot for a son? I'm sure if she was still around right now, she'd slit her wrists again when she heard about what he's been doing in the showers..." It was Gregory's voice that carried over the static of the hallway traffic, leaning over to his ex girlfriend and speaking, words cruel, meant to inflict as much pain as he could, feeling it his God-given right to ruin Squall Leonhart after what the little shit had done to make him lose face little over a month ago. It had taken so long for them to dig up something good enough to take the cocky little fag down a few pegs.

Squall’s tears spilled over, fat rivulets rolling over pale cheeks to drop from his chin, lost in the fur collar of his jacket. His whole body trembled and abruptly, as if his body had just finally remembered how to move, he turned on his booted heel and bolted, unable to remain indifferent as he usually did; their words were too close to real. It wasn't even their words that hurt him so much, but the knowledge that someone, most likely Seifer, had told them. He should have never trusted the handsome jock, should have stuck to the original plan. _I'm such an idiot... I should've learned after the last time,_ he berated himself through chaotic thoughts and memories of past heartbreak, the present only serving to rip open old wounds.

He slammed the door open, stumbling down the steps towards his car in the student parking lot, hardly recognizing the tall blonde that was seemingly waiting there for him. He just had to get away...

Squall came rushing down the hall before Seifer could even prepare for it; it was just after the bell, maybe a minute or two. The slim brunette looked unlike Seifer had ever seen him before. Something had obviously happened in the blonde’s absence. Seifer attempted a wave, cutting the gesture short as Squall seemed to ignore him entirely. "Hey… Squall, what's wrong?" he asked, stepping in front of the outer door in the hopes of delaying the taciturn youth, concern written clear across his handsome face. He wasn’t going to let Squall escape without at least giving him some clue as to what had gone wrong while he’d been gone. It must have been sudden and a shock, otherwise he was sure Squall would have gotten a text to him or something. The other teen had been fine when he’d been with him on Saturday and the only thing he knew of that would set Squall off quite like this was a secret that he himself had only learned of two weeks ago, a secret that Squall had been adamant they keep between the two of them.

The memory surfaced, swimming in his mind anew as he considered Squall’s overt distress.

(Flashback)

Squall was on the stool in the lower room of his loft bedroom, his guitar in his lap as Seifer used the shower above, playing the chords to a song he had been unsuccessfully trying to complete for months. It was raw, the lyrics too full of truth and pain and Squall could hardly get through a single verse of it without losing his composure.

Seifer had stood watching him from the steps of Squall’s loft, drying his hair with a towel as he listened to the sound of the other boy’s voice breaking over the words of his own song. He had seen Squall’s hands begin to quake and he’d heard his breath hitch before a curse had interrupted the sad melody. Then Squall had been wiping his face, harshly swiping at tears that had fallen unbidden over pale cheeks. He’d palmed his face then, shoulders quivering ever so slightly, his guitar held in a loose grip by his unoccupied hand before he set it aside entirely, hugging himself.

Seifer hadn’t even realized he’d moved until he was right next to the brunette, one large tanned hand falling on Squall’s shoulder, “Hey, you gonna be alright?” His voice was low, soft like he was afraid to raise it any further in case he was to shatter the moment.

Squall had tangled the fingers of his left hand in his choppy chestnut hair, tugging on the strands a little in frustration and he didn’t look up at Seifer. "Yeah... I'll be okay... Just, this song," he said, unable to explain exactly, his voice shaky as he leaned into the comforting touch on his shoulder unconsciously. He used his other hand to rub at his tears, embarrassed that he was actually crying in front of Seifer.

He pulled away from the touch after another moment, using the heel of his hand to rub at one of his eyes as he finally looked up at Seifer. "So lame, huh? Can you believe I'm the same Squall Leonhart that has gang bangs in the bathroom at school?" he’d questioned cynically, wrapping one arm around his waist tightly, trying desperately to make light of the serious meltdown he was on the cusp of having. Seifer shouldn’t see him like that; no one needed to see him like that.

Seifer had watched Squall as he wiped his tears, feeling an intense urge to comfort the younger teen. This other, vulnerable, side of Squall was calling forth Seifer’s protective and defensive instincts and he couldn’t quite fathom exactly why; he just didn’t like seeing the brunette in pain. Watching the normally confident seventeen-year-old simply break down from the words of his own song wasn't something Seifer had ever expected to witness. He had almost pulled Squall back into a full hug when the younger boy had pulled away from him, but he didn’t want to embarrass himself if Squall was already over it.

“Yeah... I can believe it. You’re just an actor like me," he’d spoken in that same soft tone even as the tears kept rolling down Squall’s porcelain cheeks. It was more than Seifer could stand. "Come here..." He’d commanded, taking the last steps to close the space between himself and the other boy before bending to hug the lithe teen from behind. "You'll be fine... Alright? Try to breathe."

Squall had obviously been taken by surprise when Seifer had draped himself over his back, hugging him from behind. He’d blinked, salty tears clinging to long dark lashes as his own hand had crept up ever so slowly to hold the other male’s arm around his chest. Squall had inhaled deeply, the clean scent of his own shampoo mixed with the blonde’s natural scent soothed him as he leaned back into the unexpectedly comforting embrace. A hollow laugh had sounded from the brunette, "I don't actually have gang bangs in the bathroom, you know?”

“You don’t say?" had been Seifer’s response, feigning surprise. The bathrooms were a bit small for that sort of thing. "I mean, there’s way more room under the bleachers..." He’d meant it to be funny, hoping to lighten Squall’s distraught mood. Seifer was overly aware of the hand over his arm, the coolness of Squall’s soft fingertips curled around his forearm in a way that made him warm in the pit of his stomach. And he just waited patiently for Squall to explain further.

A bitter chuckle had sounded in the back of Squall’s throat. "Yeah, there is more room there, though I've never had a gang bang at all... I have given an awful lot of head though," he replied with a half smile, sniffling softly. The tears still rolled down flushed cheeks.

The shorter brunette had let his breath out shakily after that when Seifer said nothing in response, the tears slowly ebbing as he blinked repeatedly. "The song's 'bout my mum. I can't sing it... It ends up like this every time I try," he’d finally managed to say quietly, closing his reddened eyes as he let himself be hugged, comfortable in Seifer’s hold.

"I figured. You mentioned her before... And the lyrics... I can kinda guess," Seifer had felt Squall shudder in his arms. "If you need to talk about it…" His voice had trailed off, leaving the unvoiced offer to listen if the brunette needed him to hanging in the air between them. 

"She told me she couldn't stay with me anymore and then I went to see where she’d disappeared to and I found her… She was just there on the floor and there was so much of it... It was so red... I’ve never seen red like that and she was smiling really serene like she was really happy... She was happy to be leaving... And I didn't know how to make the bleeding stop... It just kept coming out…" His voice cracked when Squall finally broke down in front of the other boy, unable to brush off the painful memories in the face of Seifer's earnest invitation. He'd never talked about it before, not to the therapist, not to his father, not to anyone. He screwed his eyes shut tightly, his grip tightening on Seifer's arm, black painted nails pressing in against the blonde's bare arm as he shook with silent sobs.

"I don't think you could have... Squall, you were just a kid; you couldn’t have done anything," Seifer was trying his best to calm Squall down. He had turned Squall around on the stood so that he was facing Seifer. "Have you talked about it with anyone else?" he’d asked; already fairly certain he knew the answer before he’d even voiced the question as he pulled the lithe brunette into a proper hug. He had every intention to stay there as long as it took for Squall to calm down.

Squall had only shaken his head, not answering verbally. He was clearly reeling just from telling Seifer. He hugged the tall blonde back, pressing his cheek to the taller boy's stomach, eyes closed as he soaked up the comfort Seifer was offering. His breaths hitched as he cried until he couldn't anymore. After several moments, his breath had evened out and he pulled away, rubbing an arm over his reddened cheeks, flushed from his tears and no doubt his embarrassment.

"Sorry, I-- No one's usually here when this happens," he excused quietly, obviously out of his element. He looked up at Seifer through red-rimmed blue-grey eyes, carding a hand through his own chestnut hair. And he started talking again, telling Seifer what had happened in more detail, the words simply pouring out as if a dam had been broken. He'd never once told a single person about the day he'd found his mother on the bathroom floor. He hadn't told his father, not wanting to hurt him with his words and he hadn't been able to tell the therapist because she had no fucking clue how he _felt_ and he'd never told any friends because he'd never had any... Until now...

"Thank you for this," he said, his voice very soft and completely sincere after he’d run out of words to say.

Seifer had simply stood there, rubbing Squall’s back in wide circles, just listening as Squall talked, spilling his secrets to the older blonde. And when Squall finished, Seifer had found himself leaning over the other boy, brushing a stray lock of chestnut from in front of Squall’s eyes and met his gaze with a soft reassuring smile, "Don't mention it. What are friends for?"

(End flashback)

Squall’s pained gaze focused blearily on Seifer as the broad blonde stood in the path to the parking lot door, concern in his expression and in his words. As if he didn't already know. As if he was innocent. And Squall wanted to hate him. The worst part was that he had gotten so used to the comfort Seifer gave him during these times and now that Squall was sure that the blonde was the cause of the vicious rumour, he was at a loss.

"You're a **liar,** " he murmured, voice so low it was nearly a whisper, barely audible over the static in his head. He didn't want to believe it, but it all made so much sense. How else would Rinoa have found out? She'd been trying to get closer to Seifer since he'd first transferred, and he knew for a fact that the tall jock had gone out with her a couple times in groups and otherwise. Though she and Seifer weren't really a couple, it was Squall’s understanding that she wanted them to be. And maybe it hadn't been intentional on Seifer's part. Maybe he'd thought he could trust her, but it didn't matter because an unsaid promise had been broken and Squall could feel the freezing dark filling him up again, just like before.

He hugged himself, pushing passed the other male roughly and shoving his way out the door, unable to staunch the flow of fresh tears. He didn't care to look at his _"friend's"_ concerned face, knowing that it had to be a lie. Seifer had betrayed him. The blonde had called out to him in confusion and he had followed after the brunette, standing at the bottom of the stairs, watching Squall stumble his way to his car, bewildered in the face of Squall’s enraged anguish.

This was exactly why Squall had closed himself off. Being numb was easy and swift flickers of passion had been enough to stave off the devouring loneliness of being isolated so thoroughly. And why had he let the other boy in? He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts himself as the group from the cafeteria exited through the doors Squall and Seifer had ran out of minutes before, laughing and talking loudly together, looking around the parking lot expectantly to view the damage they'd caused.

Squall wrenched the door to his corvette open and flopped into the seat, slamming the door and closing his eyes tightly, trying to get his lungs to accept oxygen. He leaned his forehead on the steering wheel, focusing on breathing, knuckles white as his body threatened hyperventilation.

Finally tearing his gaze away from Squall’s retreating back, Seifer looked up the stairs and saw what exactly Squall had been running from. He swore colourfully to himself. His so called friends and his would be girlfriend were right there, pointing and laughing while the only person he could call a real friend fled and he didn't know the cause, but he should’ve guessed it would have something to do with the group before him. He bit the inside of his cheek hard as he stepped up the few stairs towards them.

"What happened to him?" he asked the assembled mob. He had just missed the punchline of a very serious joke apparently. He feigned confusion, looking to the one that was most likely to know the cause of everything.

Queen Bitch, Rinoa stood at the forefront of the group, a vicious smirk on her pretty lips. She had crushed on him enough that it was apparent she wanted to take him for a roll in the sack, given the opportunity even though Seifer had politely refused to give her any such opportunity thus far. It was obvious she was behind what had just happened with Squall; she looked way too smug not to be.

"Wow, I think you might have broken him. Whad'ya do?" he asked the dark-haired girl, fighting to keep the note of concern from his voice when he spoke.

"We were just teaching him a lesson, since he never seems to learn and he's so smug stealing everyone's boyfriends. After what he did to Gregory, we had to put a stop to it. I was going through my dad's files and I found one about this suicide and guess who it was?" Rinoa explained animatedly. Not waiting for him to answer, she plowed on, "It was his mom, and he's the one that found her, killed herself right in front of him even, told him she couldn't bare to stay with him and slit her wrists. Sick right? He's obviously the reason she killed herself... I just told him the truth; she was so ashamed and disgusted by him that she couldn't stand to live. It’s so true too. He even started crying."

She latched herself to Seifer's arm as she talked cruelly about Squall's trauma, embellishing wherever she saw fit, saying his mom had caught him having sex with a guy among other things that she thought made the story juicier in some way or another. Gregory, never one to be left out, piped in from Seifer’s other side, "Maybe he'll take a page out of her book and do us all a favor..." Rinoa nodded emphatically in agreement as if suicide was something to be laughing over.

"Yeah, he's a stain on our school, don't you think?" she agreed, looking up at Seifer as if asking for his affirmation. Seifer felt sick.

***

Squall breathed shakily, calmed down enough that hyperventilation was no longer an immediate threat. He buckled his seat belt, digging the keys out of his pocket and struggling to get them into the ignition with trembling hands. He swore as he missed the slot again before he finally managed to get the key into the ignition and turned it, cranking the CD player up before pulling out of the parking lot and escaping the school.

His vision blurred many times while he drove, using one hand to scrub away the tears that wouldn't stop falling. Finally, he got home. He was never so grateful that his father was at home in his whole life. When the door slammed against the wall as he came in, his father heard it and came rushing, catching his son just as he collapsed in the front hallway. Laguna held Squall as he cried, burying himself in his father's arms, curled in the front hallway with the front door wide open.

Squall cried until no more tears would come and Laguna didn't dare ask what had happened; he merely knelt on the wood flooring, holding his son and stroking his hair. It was times like this, he needed Raine, wished she were still there to talk Squall through whatever it was that had happened. His wife and son had always shared some sort of connection, some secret, like a language all their own that he'd never been able to understand. And he didn't know how to help Squall, didn’t know exactly what words to say, so he simply held Squall silently until he'd tuckered himself out.

Lifting his seventeen-year-old son was not nearly as difficult as it should have been; the boy was thin, light and curled so closely to Laguna that it was as if he was just a child again. And it reminded Laguna that no matter how grown up Squall liked to act, a child was what he was. The older man carried Squall up to his room and slowly up to his bed in the loft, setting him down on the double sized mattress and pulling the comforter over him. The former rock star sat on the side of his son's bed, running soothing fingers through his sweat-dampened hair and ever so softly began to sing to Squall like Raine used to; it was the only thing Laguna could think of and it had always soothed Squall when he was little.

Squall fell asleep to the sound of his father's singing voice, completely clothed right down to his boots, tears staining pale cheeks and his cellphone pressing into his hip from it's place in his pocket. Laguna left his son's room reluctantly, unwilling to take his eyes off his distraught child, but he had to call the school and explain Squall's absence. He learned a few things when he called and managed to piece together what had happened to upset his son so much. He leaned against the kitchen counter after hanging up and pulled a silver cigarette case from his pocket along with a matching lighter. He placed a smoke between his lips, returning the case to his pocket before lighting the tobacco, inhaling deeply as he pushed his lighter back into his pocket too, resting his now unoccupied hand over his waist, tucking his hand under his opposite arm as his thoughts rolled over one another. He shook his head as he let the smoke filter out into the air of the kitchen, uncaring of the fact that they didn't smoke in the house. After hearing what the principal had to say, Laguna just knew it had to do with the Almasy boy. Squall hadn't acted out quite like this since he was fourteen. And it had been from a boy he was involved with then too.

***

"I knew you were a royal fucking bitch, but now you’re just being sadistic," Seifer couldn’t stop the words that fell from his mouth in response to what Rinoa had said. They were all outright sadistic. He’d known about Squall’s mother, about the past he kept hidden from his peers; now it seemed like everyone knew. But it wasn’t just that they knew; it was the details, the little embellishments that were the basis for all the gossip that would be spread through the student body. Seifer could barely stand to look at the doe-eyed girl and it was only his strictly ingrained policy to 'never hit a girl' that prevented him from physically throwing her off of him.

He pushed her off of his arm, looking at her in disgust. "I mean, fuck. Just cause Gregory over there can't keep his dick to himself, doesn’t give you all the right to ruin Squall’s life. I mean, if you paid an ounce of fucking attention, you'd notice that Greg’s slept with about half the girls in the whole damned school, let alone fooled around with Leonhart. He was just pissed because he couldn’t handle that he **liked** screwing around with Squall in the first place."

Plowing on, ignoring the unspoken rules and obliterating reputations along the way, Seifer picked his way though most of the ringleaders, only seeming to pick up steam as he went from one to the next, spilling secrets they’d thought to keep safe from one another.

Finally, he came to stand before Gregory, towering his few inches of height over the other jock. "Actions speak louder than words don't they? I know about the video," he announced, sneering at the other male, watching in satisfaction as Gregory’s face paled in fear before the other covered it with anger. Seifer didn’t care anymore, seeing the other guy’s mouth moving like a fish as he tried to come up with something to say.

“H-Holy shit, you-- You’re in love with the fa—” Gregory didn’t get to finish as Seifer’s clenched fist connected with his jaw. It didn’t matter anyway; Seifer’s reputation was already completely shot to shit even before he’d thrown the first punch.

Oddly enough, he couldn’t bring himself to care; the sweet feeling of flesh and bone connecting and watching Greg crumple at the knees was simple bliss.

The second punch landed while he was still falling and then Seifer was on top of him, swinging. He didn't know what had gotten into him; he was just so fucking pissed off. In the end, it took over half the team to drag him off Gregory just as the chanting of the steadily growing mob of students encouraging the brawl drew the attention of the faculty.

When everything was said and done and the fight had been broken up, six boys were sitting in front of the principal’s office, police and teachers trying to work out what exactly had happened. Gregory was still in the nurse’s office, breathing, but not feeling all that lucky about it. And those who had witnessed the fight were being questioned. One consistency in their statements meant that Seifer wasn't going to escape this situation easily. That consistency was that he had thrown the first punch, as if he hadn’t had good reason to do just that.

It was much later that day when the incident at the school had sorted itself out. The damages were simple enough; Seifer had been expelled, setting him back at least a year, but he wasn't getting charged with assault, primarily because, with the exception of Gregory, he was one of the worse off as far as injuries went. Though secretly, he wondered how much his father had had to do with his lack of serious punishment.

He was dead. So very very dead. That much was for certain. But he didn’t think about it too much. He just hoped that Squall wouldn’t do anything stupid.

The ride home was lethally silent. Alexander Almasy kept opening his mouth and closing it as though he couldn’t find the words he needed to appropriately communicate his disappointment in his son. And when they got home, the only words he spoke were in a deadly serious tone that held no room for argument. _Room_ and _now,_ in that order and Seifer didn’t even attempt to argue it. Seifer simply did as told. He didn’t think he had ever seen his father quite so angry before. But he could hardly worry over it at the moment, more concerned with the brunette that he had yet to be able to contact. He sent several panicked texts to Squall.

_Squall? You there?_

_I've been expelled… My dad’s pissed._

_Squall? Please answer me._

_Call me? I’m really freaking out._

_Please? I gotta know you’re alright._

_Are you okay?_

He sent probably over a hundred in all, all of them becoming increasingly concerned as he received no response from the wayward brunette. Seifer couldn’t wait much longer to hear from the other youth. If he didn't get a call or at least a text from Squall in the next few minutes, he was going to go over to Squall’s house, one way or another.

The buzz of Squall's cell woke him finally. He turned onto his back and it took him a moment to realize that he was in his bed and it was dark outside. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands roughly, jumping when his cell vibrated once again against his hip. He dug it out of his pocket, getting up, intent on going to the kitchen to get something to drink, pausing only to drop his boots by his door. He went through the texts as he went down the stairs, through the hall to the kitchen. All of them were from Seifer and they were becoming increasingly panicked as he read through them in order. Squall blinked in confusion; Seifer had been expelled... Glancing at the time, he realized a majority of the messages had been sent over an hour ago.

He ran a pale hand through his hair, tangling his fingers in the fine hairs and tugging lightly. He was still shaky from what had happened earlier and Seifer's concerned messages were not helping. Not only was he still angry and hurt, but now he was worried about the tall blonde jock. He didn't know what exactly was happening or had taken place after he’d left the school. He leaned back against the kitchen counter, the crinkling of paper under his hand making him look down curiously. There was a note from his father. Laguna had had an emergency with his production agency and had had to leave though he very much would have liked to have stayed. He'd be home in the morning. He pleaded for Squall to be careful and he didn't ever have to go to that school again if he wanted. A soft smile curved on bowed lips as Squall imagined his father writing the sloppy note, upset that he was leaving, but not wanting to wake Squall to say goodbye.

A tear welled and fell with a soft patter on the paper; the house was so quiet. He jumped as his cell buzzed again against the marble of the counter loudly. He took several gulps of water, finally taking notice of the lingering scent of smoke. Laguna had been worried... His father rarely smoked, and never in the house. Squall shook his head and pulled a cigarette from the crushed package in his pocket. He lit up, leaning back against the counter, one sock-covered foot resting against the cupboard, the burning white-wrapped cigarette dangling from dry, pout lips as he opened his phone with one hand.

_I'm coming over._

The brunette shook his head, unable to bring himself to reply one way or the other. He wanted to see Seifer, but at the same time, he never wanted to see him again. _Whatever, let him come... I did promise he could come over whenever he needed to and I keep my promises,_ he thought as he took a deep drag before pulling the cigarette from his lips, wispy strands of smoke slipping from between them as he exhaled in the silent kitchen.

TBC…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know that was pretty harsh, but hey high school can be a nasty place. Anyhow, the next couple of chapters are what you've all probably been waiting for. There will be confessions and feels, and there will actually be some limey bits. Hope you enjoyed this installment. Comments and kudos are always welcome.


	8. I Wanna Hold Your Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which feelings are realized and recognized.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long time coming... Hope it's worth the wait.

Seifer ended up walking to Squall’s house, escaping through the window of his room after locking the door. It wouldn't seem odd if his father came to call on him; it was Seifer’s usual method of coping when he was pissed off or upset. Locking himself up and sleeping in late, refusing to see of speak to anyone until he was over whatever had made him upset to begin with.

The walk took quite a while and during the entire trek, he didn't get word form Squall which only served to press him to move faster; he needed to be sure the brunette was alright. He did get some uncomfortable looks from some of the people in the brunette’s neighbourhood once he’d managed to get that far and it was no wonder because he was limping slightly and looked like he had been though a boxing match.

His lip was split and his left eye was almost swollen shut, the knuckles on both his hands were scraped and raw, but he hardly cared as his worry for Squall consumed him. Squall hadn't texted and he hadn’t called even though Seifer had begged him to and the blonde had attempted calling the brunette, but there had been no response. Seifer was scared, had never been so damn scared in all his life. If Laguna wasn't home, would Squall really… He redoubled his pace, almost running those last few blocks and sprinting when he saw that the burgundy Porsche that belonged to Squall’s father was indeed missing from the driveway. He pounded on the door to the other boy’s home, uncaring of the intense throbbing in his knuckles. "Squall!?" he called out, panic making his voice crack.

He checked his phone again, knocking and calling at the same time. He needed to know the brunette was okay. Squall had had it rough and Seifer had no doubts that his “friends” had cut other youth deep.

"Ow! Shit!" Squall cursed when he burnt himself with his cigarette as his phone and an insistent pounding on his front door occurred suddenly at the same time. He threw the half finished cigarette in the sink, sucking on the small red burn on the back of his middle finger as he went to answer the door, already aware of just whom it was even without hearing the familiar voice.

He pulled the door open, stormy eyes widening to saucers as he took in the picture presented to him in the few seconds Seifer stilled before him. The blonde stood there covered in dried blood, grass stains and bruises. "W-what happened?" the brunette questioned, immediately forgetting that he was supposed to be angry at the other male as his concern took over. Squall himself didn't look his best, bedraggled, tangled hair and red-rimmed eyes, the normally pale skin was blotchy and red around the stormy depths, obviously from crying. He stood in the open doorway, unable to reach out to the tall jock, but wanting to so badly. Seifer'd been shouting outside, like he was terrified. Was he so worried about Squall when he obviously should have been worried about himself? He'd obviously been in a fight.

 

When the door opened to reveal Squall standing before him, slate gaze wide as he looked at Seifer, relief washed over the tall blonde teen. He couldn’t stop himself from moving, practically diving over the other boy, pulling him into a tight hug. "Damn it! Answer my fucking texts, you shit. Give me a fucking stroke why don't you," he complained, though from his grip and the waver in his deep voice, it was clear that he had been incredibly worried. Squall gasped as he was yanked into the tight embrace, stealing his breath as Seifer crushed the brunette against him fiercely. Squall’s hands came up tentatively, returning the hug as he listened to the broad teen chastise him for not answering his texts. Seifer gave Squall another squeeze before pulling back, concerned jade gaze catching on the reddened eyes and bedraggled appearance. “I woke you up, didn't I?" he questioned, sounding apologetic.

"Are you okay?" he asked, brushing off his own condition and not allowing Squall to answer his previous inquiry, concern still lurking in the forest depths of his eyes.

"I'm fine... What happened to you?" the brunette answered, stepping back and taking the other male with him, closing the door behind them with one sock-clad foot. "You should get cleaned up and put some ice on that," he said, wincing as he pulled away entirely from the jock’s arms to look at the wounds on Seifer’s face, touching the bruised cheek and swollen side of his face tenderly. Stormy depths stared at the elder teen with a concerned clarity, searching his face as he took in each bruise, each cut, the fat lip and dried blood. He closed his eyes against the sight of the blood briefly before opening them again.

"How did you get expelled? It was because of me wasn't it?"

"Fight. I've had worse," Seifer said with a shrug. He had to agree with Squall though; he should get himself patched up. The school nurse hadn’t had the chance to do much before his dad had been yanking him out of the room. He winced slightly as Squall’s fingertips brushed against the injured parts of his face. It was a tender touch, but the injuries were still fresh. When Squall asked how he had been expelled and if it had been on his behalf, Seifer couldn't bring himself to lie.

"No. It’s not your fault. When you walked out like that and then those fucks finally told me what happened. I... The things they said Squall. I don’t know, I was on top of Greg before I knew it and I couldn’t stop swinging. I was terrified that you'd..." He couldn’t finish the thought as he averted his eyes. The reason Seifer had snapped, why he had beaten the shit out of Gregory, why he had limped halfway across the damn town to see the brunette was because he had been afraid that Squall might do something he would regret, that Seifer might have been too late to stop Squall from going someplace he'd never be able to reach him.

Squall simply watched him, understanding dawning in the deep twilight of his eyes. "You thought I'd do the same as my mum. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it. But I just think about the message she left me and I can't even... And I couldn't let my dad find me like that, not like she was," he replied finally, voice hardly more than a whisper, closing his eyes as he spoke, pained by the thought of it. No matter what happened, he wasn't going to leave his father alone like that. His mother might have had to leave, but she'd made sure Squall would stay to care for his dad without her. Seifer could only nod to the other teen’s assurance. Of course Squall would be worried over Laguna; the father and son were close after all; Squall couldn’t bare to leave his father the same way his mother had left the both of them.

"Why'd you do something so stupid? I bet your dad's so mad, isn't he?" Squall said after a minute or two of quiet between them, stepping away from Seifer, his hand sliding down the blonde's arm to grasp his left hand and pull him towards the steps up to the second floor and to his room, pushing taller boy to sit on his bed while he disappeared into his bathroom, returning a few seconds later with a first aid box. He stood before Seifer, looking him over.

"Take off your shirt," he ordered. He was going to clean the wounds and give Seifer a change of clothes and possibly a shower if he was up to it.

"Yeah, my dad’s livid, but look Squall. I like you… A lot... You’re… Well, I guess you’re my best friend and seeing what they did, bringing up your mother; it was uncalled for..." Seifer explained, his gaze in his own lap as he finally answered Squall’s question from before. He hadn’t really had time to think about the repercussions when he had been so worried about Squall. His dad was definitely pissed about the fight and his expulsion and heaven help him if the older Almasy noticed he was missing and searched his room, seeing what was on his computer would make everything so much worse, but he hardly had the capacity to consider how he might smooth things over with his father at the moment, his focus entirely on the brunette standing before him. He finally met Squall’s gaze when the other boy ordered him to take his shirt off.

He didn’t argue, grimacing as he pulled the stained shirt over his head, trying his best to ignore the twinges of pain it caused in doing so. A brutal purple bruise was under his ribs where he’d taken a kick or two during the fight and there were a few other mottled bruises in varying shades on his sides and back. "Fuck, I wish I didn't take my shirt off now," he groaned, a crooked smile quirking the corners of his mouth, trying to inject some humour into the situation. It wasn't a very good attempt, but he hadn't realized how badly he had actually been injured and he really didn’t want Squall to be more upset.

Squall didn’t seem to see the humour, in fact, he didn’t seem to have heard Seifer’s groaned comment at all, his gaze unfocused on the other boy’s bruised torso as his mind went over what Seifer had said previously about his father, about his expulsion. "You mean, you weren’t the one who told her? I thought... How did she know?" he murmured, more to himself than to the other male. He set the first aid box onto the bed next to Seifer, clicking it open, pulling out cotton balls and antiseptic, a cold compress and a couple clear Band-Aids.

Squall seemed to pull himself from his thoughts and made a pained face as he looked over the violent purple bruise on the Seifer's torso. He graced the blonde with a sympathetic half smile. "You shouldn't have fought with them. You're such a dummy... I thought you weren't going to make any waves..." Squall murmured, shaking his head as he knelt down between his friend's spread knees, antiseptic and cotton balls in his hands as he looked up at the other boy through long dark lashes. The position would have been erotic if not for the fact that Seifer was covered in bruises and cuts.

Seifer looked down at Squall, surprised that the brunette had believed, been afraid even, that Seifer would've told any of the people at the school about Squall's mom. Seifer couldn't think of a time that would warrant him spilling his best friend's darkest secret. He knew secrets weren't generally kept among the teens at their school, but Seifer had never been one to spread rumours himself and he'd be damned if he were the cause of Squall's tears. He couldn't even begin to explain why he adamantly never wanted to make the other boy cry. "Why would I tell them? One of them said something about some old police file or something... Squall, you know I wouldn't tell anyone 'bout your mom. That... That shit's personal," he said quietly, giving a small wince at the click of the first aid kit. He saw the disinfectant and he didn't think that would be particularly pleasant feeling as it was applied to his numerous cuts and scrapes.

"I don't know what happened, I mean I don't usually fight, but," he started, but seemed to lose whatever he was trying to say, shrugging one shoulder and looking down at Squall, meeting the silver blue gaze, "I didn't plan to fight the majority of the football team, and I know I wasn't going to make any waves, but seriously Squall, seeing you like that. And the shit they were saying. I don't know." Seifer desperately tried to keep his thoughts innocent against the image of Squall staring up at him from his kneeling position between Seifer's spread legs. After all, there was a time and a place for that sort of thing and this just wasn't the time. Thinking about the disinfectant that Squall was holding in one hand helped surprisingly well.

"What's going to happen now, since you got expelled? What'd your dad say? I'll just say it was all my fault, then maybe... Well maybe you could salvage your reputation..." Squall trailed off, worried that Seifer would have to stop seeing him, that his strict father might send him away to a private school or something... Somewhere where Squall wouldn't be able to reach him anymore. The thought scared him more than anything. His arms went around the tall blonde's waist of their own accord as Squall pressed the side of his face to the other male's stomach, hugging him from between his legs, leaning forward slightly on his knees to keep himself balanced as he embraced the other boy around the middle, careful of Seifer's bruised side.

"I don't know what's going to happen. That's just it; my dad didn't say anything at all. He's so pissed, he can't even talk... That's the part that scares me. He's never lost his voice before," Seifer responded, dropping his gaze from Squall's earnest face down to Squall's left shoulder, unable to retain the eye contact that was doing strange things to his stomach. He was surprised when Squall was suddenly hugging him, so warm and soft and God, he smelled so fucking good. Seifer's hand was in Squall's hair, stroking through the silky strands before he could stop himself and his other arm wrapped loosely around the brunette's shoulders, returning the somewhat awkward hug. "Honestly though, I don't care what my dad thinks. I think I broke half the school though. Everyone knows about the video you made of Greg. And a bunch of other shit they told me about each other," he said, changing the topic and trying desperately to replace the intense atmosphere with humour instead. It was funny; they had all told him one thing or another about each other, thinking him trustworthy to keep their precious secrets and he had spilled them all, all but Squall's because Squall's was the only secret that he actually gave a shit about. The result of his fight and spilling of all their darkest secrets would be a nice set of dominoes collapsing; it was almost a shame Squall and he wouldn't get to see it.

Squall chuckled, the sound muffled against the firmness of Seifer's stomach. "I don't actually have any videos," he admitted quietly, happy that the other male had stuck up for him in any case. Seifer could only chuckle and shake his head at the other boy's revelation. Squall was unbelievable. The brunette pulled back after several moments, closing his eyes while the other had hugged him and stroked soft fingers through his hair with his uninjured hand. He sat up on his knees, clicking the lid open on the antiseptic in his hand and putting some on one of the cotton balls before setting the bottle and extra cotton balls on the floor between his knees. He tentatively dabbed at the scrapes on Seifer's face, cleaning the dried blood from them tenderly. They weren't really as bad as they looked. Superficial mostly, but likely painful.

"I'm not going to school... Ever again," he said softly as he took up a fresh cotton ball, repeating the motion of putting the antiseptic on it before pressing it gently to the other boy's split lip. "How'd you get here anyways? You didn't get a ride, so you're dad doesn't even know you're here, does he?" he asked, the realization finally hitting him. Seifer didn't have a car of his own anymore and the jock's dad was obviously pissed off to the point he couldn't even speak so how had the other boy managed to get to Squall's house? 

Seifer winced as the dampened cotton came in contact with the tender wounds on his face, but he forced himself to remain still and prevented himself from pulling away from the light dabbing. It was a little ironic, he thought; he'd come to make sure Squall was okay and yet, the younger brunette was taking care of him instead.

"Ah well, you could get a GED, I guess. Dunno what I'm gonna do though," he said idly before he was silenced by the swab on his swollen and split lip, waiting until he was permitted to speak again before he finally replied to Squall's inquiry as to just how he had gotten to the other teen's house. "I walked mostly, jogged, limped. I just had to get here," he said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck, bright green gaze flickering from side to side guiltily, "I just had to make sure you were okay and no, my dad doesn't even know I left the house. I uh, kinda snuck out my window."

Squall sat back on his haunches, cotton ball still suspended between his fingers in the air between them. His brows pinched together, eyes soft, "Shit Seifer, when he finds out you're gone," he rubbed his empty hand against his forehead, "This is all such a mess... You should've stayed away from me," he murmured, voice full of apology. He had effectively ruined the tall blonde's life. Or at least what had been passing as a peaceful existence until the other male was free of his father's shackles. He sighed heavily, feeling entirely too responsible for what had happened in the passed few hours.

"I should have... But I didn't not last month... Not now either," Seifer said with a shrug. His dad would be pissed; he knew that much. And he already knew that the elder man was likely fielding calls from several of the kids that Seifer had attacked, trying to get every bit of information he could. The older Almasy was probably getting ready for a confrontation of the other and seeking as much ammo as he could to make sure that he had an absolute advantage.

Depending on how quickly the other kids could put things together; one of the many things his dad might hear was that Seifer and Squall were romantically involved. That hadn't been the case, though Squall _had_ gotten under Seifer's skin in ways that he couldn't quite understand yet. Perhaps in a way, he wasn't meant to.

"I never meant for something like this to happen and I was so angry when I thought it must have been you that told them. I thought it'd all been an elaborate set up... It's happened before. I was scared you had betrayed me after I let you in," Squall closed his eyes, "I'm so glad that I was wrong..." One hand curled over his friend's knee as he fidgeted.

He took a deep, calming breath before going back to patching the other male up, cleaning the various cuts and bandaging the split and bruised knuckles with gauze that he pulled out of the first aid kit, leaning over Seifer's leg. Squall had lost count of how many times they'd touched each other; it was a far cry from the first time the brunette had given him a ride and promised not to lay a single finger on him. He smiled a small nostalgic smile. It had been such a short time since then, just barely over a month and yet it felt like so much more.

"Squall... I wouldn't betray you... You're the first person that I actually like in this school... Some of the drama kids are nice... But they have their little group and I don't quite fit into that," Seifer said, looking over the bandages; his good hand falling onto one of Squall's shoulders. He wasn't worried at this point about the brunette's contact with him; though he had stayed true to the intent of the 'hands off policy.' A policy that Seifer had reconsidered several times expressly over the last two weeks.

Squall cracked the cold compress, the chemicals within the package reacting and turning cold as he offered it to the other boy. "Put that on your face... It'll help with the swelling," he ordered, fingertips brushing short strands of hair away from Seifer's forehead as he looked up at him, warm affection in his gaze.

Seifer removed his hand from the other boy's shoulder, taking the cold pack and laying it over his eye and cheek. "Yes sir," he said, sticking his tongue out.

Squall heaved another sigh, "What happens if your dad wants to send you away to army camp or something?"

"If I'm sent to army camp...? Look, you don't know much about politicians, do you? Republicans like the military, but they don't want their kids or themselves to serve... I'm safe from that at least... The worst that could happen is he sends me to that private school in the next county," Seifer replied, looking down with a frown. He would rather run away and join the circus than go there.

Squall shook his head, grinning at the other boy's words. He supposed it didn't matter right now what was going to happen tomorrow or the day after... Things would work out... Probably... Laguna would know what to do anyways if something like that happened... Squall was certain his father would know how to help their situation. But it would have to wait at least until tomorrow.

"Take off your jeans, I'll go get you something to wear," he said after another moment, moving back and standing from his kneeling position on the floor. A blush stole over his cheeks as he realized he was ordering the other to undress on his bed. He looked away, embarrassed by the thought. It didn't help that the entire time he'd been cleaning Seifer's wounds, he'd wanted to simply kiss the other boy. He stepped away from him, towards the steps leading to the lower part of his room and the door to the hall. The blonde's clothes were filthy, stained with blood and dirt and grass from the fight and they wouldn't be comfortable. The shirt was completely ruined, laying in a rumpled pile on the bed next to Seifer.

When Squall told him to take off his pants, then blushed, Seifer knew their thoughts had went in identical directions. Adding in the brunette's position between his legs, Seifer's ears burned, though he knew perfectly well that Squall had not meant it in _that_ way. Even so, he complied, peeling them off and putting them in the pile with his shirt. His legs were better off than his torso, only slightly skinned, the denim of his jeans having protected him from the ground for the most part.

"I think my dad's got some sweats that will fit you; I'll be back in a sec," Squall said as he descended the stairs, leaving the room to retrieve the pants and a clean t-shirt for the other boy. He looked at his cell as he moved down the hall; it was already half past eleven. He stopped abruptly, having forgotten to close his eyes as he walked past that place and he stilled, staring at the photo of his mother.

"I miss you mum. I wish you were here now," he whispered softly, the first words he'd spoken to her in a long time. He gave a sad smile before he went into his father's room, grabbing a pair of loose grey sweatpants with a drawstring in the front and a clean white undershirt tee.

As Squall left, Seifer shifted on the bed, examining himself further. Yeah, he'd had worse. Not recently, but worse all the same. Waiting for Squall to make his return with fresh clothes for him, he sighed heavily and closed his eyes a moment, running a hand through his dishevelled hair. It wouldn't be the first time he'd been dressed in Laguna's clothing and he hoped Squall's father wouldn't mind. He laid back on the bed, clearly exhausted, his feet hanging over the edge, more or less limp, his good arm crossed over his head and the injured one resting over his chest.

He had over reacted. Looking back on the events of the day, he knew full well that he had.

His dad wouldn't kill him, be severely disappointed certainly, but not quite murderous, he hoped. He wasn't worried about his father not speaking to him. That was rare anyway. What he was worried about was his future education. Granted, if he were to become an actor as he was hoping to be, he didn't need tons of education, but it couldn't hurt and of course he needed to have a back up in case it didn't work out.

He shook his head. He would have to worry about that later.

Squall swallowed hard as he looked over Seifer upon returning to the loft. The tall blonde was laying back on his bed in nothing, but his underwear and his knees were spread. He felt heat rise to his skin as stormy eyes ran over the battered teen.

He jerked suddenly as if startled. "U-uh here, this should be more comfortable," he stuttered, forcibly averting his gaze. What the hell am I thinking? He's covered in bruises for Christ's sake! he scolded himself mentally, ashamed of what he had been thinking as he looked at his friend resting on his bed, bruised and clearly exhausted after having defended him at school.

He couldn't look at Seifer as he stepped closer to the bed just in front of his friend's spread legs, offering the clothing to him with his eyes downcast. His stood rigidly still with shoulders hunched slightly; he looked like a guilty child.

Seifer heard Squall coming up the loft steps, but didn't bother straightening up as it would probably further aggravate the ache in his chest and stomach. He walked his way up on his hands, seeing the proffered clothing, offered by a very brightly blushing brunette. For a moment, he was surprised too see the colouring on Squall, doubting that it was even possible if it were not for the proof in front of him.

He reached up and took the clothing, draping it over his stomach for a while before sitting up the rest of the way to actually get redressed. A deep sigh came from him. "Thanks Squall... You're... Just amazing," he murmured with a blush of his own, starting to slip into the loose fitting pants. The shirt, he wasn't so happy about, lifting an arm over his head with a wince and pulling it on.

"I'm not... I'm just me," he said softly, smiling a tiny, awkwardly embarrassed smile in response to the unexpected compliment. He sucked on his lower lip, worrying it between white teeth.

Seifer watched the brunette for silent second; Squall was chewing his lip again, dismissing the compliment almost shyly. "Not many people would let me stay over if I just showed up in the middle of the night Squall," he argued, shrugging one broad shoulder.

"Y-you staying over?" Squall asked, gaze averted, completely off balanced by the blatant flattery that was so innocent and entirely genuine.

"Well, I was hoping to... And, it's not like I have to worry about school tomorrow... But... What's wrong...? You look like you just kicked a puppy," Seifer observed, another creeping note of concern in his voice. Squall looked guilty, like he had done something terrible.

"Nothing. I'm okay. You can stay... Um you can sleep in the bed this time... I might play guitar for a bit since I just woke up," the brunette replied, tone quiet and coloured with the remnants of his embarrassment. He wasn't going to make Seifer sleep on the couch again when he was injured, but he couldn't trust himself to sleep in the bed with him right now. He was exhausted, but wide awake. He figured he could let the other boy rest and he could step into the room below and play guitar for a while, sing and lose himself in the music. It'd definitely clear his head.

No one had ever done anything like this for his sake before. Most of the time, people were quick to condemn bullying, but wouldn't put a stop to it when it was happening right in front of them. He wasn't happy that Seifer had gotten hurt or that he'd been expelled or that things with his father were not good and it was all because he had stuck up for the pale brunette boy with a disreputable reputation, and yet he was really happy knowing that Seifer considered him worth more than all of those things combined.

"In your bed? Well, if you insist... I don't want to displace you," Seifer said sheepishly, looking nervous. Sure, Squall would probably be just downstairs if he needed anything... The room was soundproofed though, so he was effectively out of sight and out of mind and Seifer wasn't exactly comfortable with that. It was unfortunate, but Squall generally played music to clear his head and after the day they'd had, Seifer couldn't blame him for wanting to fall back on it. He needed an outlet as well and with his hand the way it was, he wouldn't be able to play anything himself for at least a few days.

He wondered what had made him flip out like he had. Was it... Squall himself? He normally didn't involve himself in such a way and never for anyone outside the group he considered friends and he hadn't ever taken a swing at anyone unless it was a personal offence. The implications of what was happening scared him. He laid back down in the bed, seeking out the space where Squall usually slept by way of indented pillow, not covered up just yet, stretching out and wincing from the way his leg popped.

"I guess, but I make it a point to be different anyways," the slighter boy replied softly, a half smile on his lips as he blushed before his friend turned crush. "Just get some rest. If you'd rather, I can play up here; maybe it'll put you to sleep," he said, hearing the worry in the other boy's voice as if Seifer didn't want to be out of sight of him. Maybe he was still freaked out that Squall might do something to hurt himself...

Squall lingered at the top of his stairs, just standing awkwardly and staring at the floor. If Seifer wanted, Squall would bring the stool up and play his guitar there, visible in the ethereal moonlight that poured through the window into the loft when the brunette flicked the lights off. He wanted to stay near Seifer too, but he couldn't just slip into bed with him...

"Heh... I've noticed," Seifer said with a breathy chuckle, getting comfortable on Squall's side of the bed.

Squall watched Seifer from beneath his lashes as the other boy shifted on his bed, getting more comfortable, snuggling himself into the spot Squall usually slept. The whole bed smelt like the pale boy, a soft flowery scent with just the hint of cinnamon and tobacco, uniquely his own.

When Squall offered to play upstairs, it was all Seifer could do not jump at the prospect. Yes, of course he wanted him upstairs. It would allow him to make sure Squall was safe and he could watch the other for as long as possible. Granted, the tired blonde didn't stand a chance of staying awake more than an hour at most.

"Yeah, that'll help... Play up here, please," he said, shifting in Squall's bed, using his good hand to pull the covers over himself. The prospect of Squall sitting nearby, on or near the foot of his bed and playing his guitar... It was an agreeable mental image to be sure.

He couldn't help but take a deep breath in though his nose. Tabacco... Flowers and cinnamon; Squall. His shampoo and smoking habits clung to his sheets and were more comforting than Seifer cared to admit. One foot poked its way out of the covers and he stared at the other teen, clearly intending to remain awake as long as his body would let him.

Squall lit up in a smile, nodding. "Right, give me a sec," he said before turning and making his way down to his room below. He slung his guitar over his shoulder, resting it against his back as he picked up the stool he kept next to the guitars.

He returned to the loft a few seconds later, setting the stool at the side of the bed where the window was pouring in the starlight from outside, with a dull thump. The light made his skin appear to glow even paler as he seated himself on the stool, feet resting on the rungs around the bottom, knees spread slightly as he pulled the guitar around into his lap. He looked up through his lashes at Seifer as he tuned it with the efficient quickness of practising for many years.

The footsteps that signalled Squall was on his way back up were quite welcome as far as a melody went. He was coming back up... Unless it was his father. Explaining to Laguna how and why he was in Squall's bed, beaten and bruised and given what had happened earlier that day... It wasn't a conversation Seifer particularly wanted to have and was glad to see it was indeed only Squall returning with his guitar and a stool.

Squall framed by moonlight had its own pull; it lent an almost magical quality to the pale boy. The few notes of tuning were familiar from their practices together. And his stormy eyes, framed by those lashes and glittering like stars on the twilight ocean...

God dammit... Seifer was drowning.

Squall plucked the strings, the lilting sound of the guitar filling the room as he played the chords to an old Beatles' song, another of his favourites, one that had quickly turned into the one he associated with his friend when he listened to it. His voice joined slowly, soft and smoky in the relative quiet of the rest of the room. "Yeah, I'll tell you something I think you'll understand. When I say that something... I wanna hold your hand... I wanna hold your hand... I wanna hold your hand... Oh please say to me, you'll let me be your man and please say to me, you'll let me hold your hand... Now let me hold your hand... I wanna hold your hand..." A few longer chords and a deep breath as he closed his eyes, continuing just as softly, "And when I touch you, I feel happy inside... It's such a feeling that my love, I can't hide... I can't hide... I can't hide... Yeah, you... you got that something... I think you'll understand when I'll say that something... I wanna hold your hand... I wanna hold your hand... I wanna hold your hand..." He trailed off quietly, opening luminescent eyes finally to peer over at the other boy on his bed, curled where he normally slept. Yeah, I definitely wanna hold his hand, he thought as he looked at Seifer; even with the bruises, he was still so handsome.

The song that Squall had picked was an opportunity of sorts. It was strangely appropriate and all Seifer need do was reach out to him. His mouth went dry. Under tired eyes, a soft grin formed, the blonde's uninjured hand reaching out to Squall almost unconsciously. Yes, he was scared, uncertain about his future and most definitively about his feelings, but carpe diem... His pulse spiked, waiting... Hoping.

Laguna had called this one and Seifer had never seen it coming.

As Squall watched the other male's reaction, he moved as if in a daze, slipping the strap of his guitar off of his shoulder and settling it against the wall, reaching out to take the offered hand, cold fingertips brushing against Seifer's palm as Squall stood from his stool to take only a step closer to the bed. His fingers slowly curled around the other boy's hand.

He couldn't make up his mind, as if he didn't know what to do next... He'd done this kind of thing so many times before, but this was different... This _meant_ something... It could ruin everything... It would definitely change things and Seifer's father would be devastated if he ever found out. 

A soft breath escaped from between parted red lips as Squall stared down at Seifer, unable to step any closer, to give into the temptation. He wanted so badly to crawl into the bed with the blonde and curl up in his arms, to kiss him, to touch him more... To... But he couldn't force himself to make the move... The song was the closest thing to a confession he had ever made to genuinely liking the other male more than just a friend. And he hoped that Seifer had understood; if his reaction was anything to go by... But was it okay to believe in it? And if tomorrow Seifer woke up and looked at him with disdain?

Seifer's heart stopped when Squall stood up and put away the guitar. His fingers felt so cold in Seifer's hold. This was new territory. Still... He had gotten this far. He let out a shaking breath and gave a gentle pull with his arm, willing Squall closer. It was perhaps an irony that wouldn't be lost on either of them that it was Seifer who made the first move... The first action to admit that he at least was interested in something a bit more than simple friendship with the other boy, placing a kiss on the back of Squall's chilly hand; his heart pounding and ears burning.

How he hoped that the song had meant a bit more than the first one that had came to mind, that he wasn't making up a meaning where none existed.

He wanted to believe that everything would work out okay as he kept telling himself it would. He looked up, a ghost of a smile and raw nerves in his vibrant green eyes, waiting with bated breath for Squall's response.

The brunette moved like a soft breeze, stepping closer as Seifer drew him in, warmth spreading from where the taller boy's lips touched his hand outwards over his skin. He swallowed, looking down, seeing the emotion swirling in the forest depths as his friend waited. The smile was his undoing. His knee slid onto the bed, one foot still on the ground as he leaned over the other male. His heart pounded so loudly, he was sure Seifer would be able to hear it...

He bowed forward, hand still clasped in Seifer's as Squall pressed his lips to his friend's. It was chaste and warm and probably the best kiss of his entire life up until then. His eyes closed, trying to convince himself that it was okay. He trembled slightly as his lips moved softly against the other male's, careful of the split. His other hand came up to rest on Seifer's jaw ever so gently, fingertips ghosting over his ear. Squall's own ears burned, the blush on his cheeks melting down his neck and heating his chest beneath his clothes.

Seifer could have laughed.

Cried.

Dropped dead on the spot.

Sang.

Was he relieved? Yes... Very relieved. His heart though... He thought it would burst, beating a staccato that would make a drummer turn in his sticks. The touch of the other boy's fingertips ghosting over his skin, gentle and so soft. It was a chaste kiss, yet more intimate than any Seifer had ever shared with anyone before. He was unsure, but he wanted it. The soreness in him was there, but he ignored it, his hand breaking free of the comforter and resting itself over Squall's back, skin tingling where the brunette's hand touched.

His hand migrated up, stroking Squall's feathery hair back behind his ear, the hand in his own getting a slight squeeze. 

Squall didn't remember sliding further onto the bed or crawling more fully over Seifer, only the way the hands felt against him, luring him in. He let go of the blonde's hand to lay it on his chest instead, using it as a sort of support to keep his balance as the kiss continued.

He could feel Seifer's heart thumping just as quickly as his as if trying to break out of his chest. His lips parted slightly against the other boy's, a soft pink tongue peeking out to run along the Seifer's bottom lip, tasting the metallic remnants of blood as he passed over the split in the flesh. He shivered as his ear was caressed, a soft hum sounding in his chest as found himself pressing in even closer, the fingers at Seifer's jaw twitched slightly against him, sliding into the short hair at the nape of his neck, the brunette's thumb resting just beneath Seifer's ear, his other hand twisted in the cotton of the borrowed shirt, afraid that if he moved too much, he might hurt the other boy's injuries...

This is too dangerous... Squall thought, warnings going off in his mind. It wasn't supposed to happen... Seifer was straight... They were supposed to be friends... _Just_ friends... But... He couldn't stop...

Seifer didn't stop, didn't pull away; he didn't want to. Yes, he was aware that Squall was a boy like himself... Oddly enough, that fact didn't bother him as much as it should. Sure, he had been told it was wrong, but here, right now with Squall's hand over his chest, his silky hair under his hand, fingertips stroking behind the brunette's ear, it didn't feel wrong at all. Squall smelled of flowers, subtly sweet and threaded with vague hints of spicy smoke. He was soft and it made Seifer careful with him. He was well aware by now that the other male was more or less on top of him and the newly freed hand immediately slid to Squall's back, beckoning, begging him to come closer. Just a little closer...

He accepted the tentative lapping on his bottom lip, returning it in kind, though the swelling of his lip made it a little more difficult. His legs spread a bit, pulling the blankets up to pool against his lap. It was supposed to be dangerous. Squall was supposed to be dangerous, but dangers, he could ignore and deal with. He was in enough trouble as it was; he might as well throw caution into the wind.

Squall wedged himself between Seifer's spread legs, his body heating the other boy's through the comforter separating them and he shuddered when Seifer's finger caressed behind his ear, sending little shocks of heat through him. It felt so good...

The hand on his back drew him in more firmly and he could do nothing but comply, pressing himself against the blonde more firmly. He pulled back from the wet kiss, opening cloudy blue greys to focus on his friend's face. "Seifer? We shouldn't--" he started to protest, though it was probably already too late to retract his confession, to refuse further intimacy. He felt like he was taking advantage of the situation just a bit. The taller boy was exhausted and had had a hell of a day and here Squall was falling back into old patterns and seducing him... But he couldn't help it. Knowing that the other male had gotten himself in this state fighting for Squall's sake made him ache to kiss his friend.

They should at least stop before it went further, especially with the injuries, but...

His fingers tightened in the short golden strands of Seifer's hair. He's willing to let me ruin him... Everything he's done up until now will mean nothing... And when his father finds out about this... I can't ask him to do this... But if he's offering... He was at war with himself, wanting more and wanting to run away at the same time. Squall didn't want to be the cause of Seifer's life falling apart, but if Seifer thought that Squall was worth that pain, then maybe it was okay...

At least Squall's father wouldn't oppose them; he'd help them for sure...

Feeling Squall on top of him, wedging himself between his legs, their hips pressing together through the layers of clothing and comforter; it wasn't something Seifer would happily and easily pass up. He'd already admitted to himself that if the opportunity presented itself to him, he wouldn't turn it down... And here it was... His hand was running up and down Squall's back while the hand on the brunette's head traced along his ear to wrap around the back of his neck before Squall broke away to whisper against his lips.

"... We shouldn't... But I want to," he murmured huskily, looking down and breaking the eye contact. He was scared to death. Squall now knew that he had some kind of feelings for him... Hopefully he understood that they were not purely sexual; they had their roots in attachment and understanding. The road ahead promised that it would be hard... But...

Seifer's arms slid down to rest along Squall's back, pulling him into a hug and gripping at the shirt he was wearing. "I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of you..."

Squall's breath hitched upon hearing the blonde's admission. Seifer wanted this as much as Squall did... He debated on what to do, but he was distracted from his internal argument as the other boy pulled him into a tight hug, his arms wrapped around his back, fingers wringing the material of his shirt almost too roughly. He could see the heat in the other male's face and the fear...

He pressed his face into Seifer's chest, inhaling his scent and closing his eyes, his own fingers tangled in the cotton of Seifer's shirt over his shoulders. Suddenly, he started laughing. Hearing the other boy state that he didn't want to feel as if he were taking advantage of Squall while he was thinking the exact same thing about the older boy. No one's ever told me that before... he thought. Everyone was quick to take without question and Squall had allowed it many times over and Seifer knew that, knew Squall's reputation and was _worried_ about taking advantage of him... It was too cute...

The seriousness of the moment was shattered as he shook with laughter against the other teen, loosening his grip on him, just laying in his arms. He looked up after several moments, seeming to get himself under control, eyes bright with emotion as he looked up at Seifer. "And here I was worried I was taking advantage of **you,** " he explained, grinning. His raised a hand to run soft fingertips from Seifer's temple, over his cheek to his jaw, brushing errant strands of short hair out of the way. "Go to sleep... We'll talk about everything tomorrow..."

And with that, he slid from Seifer's lap, standing up and going around to the other side of the bed to where his closet was. He slowly peeled off the clothing he'd woken up in, the same one's he'd been wearing this morning. Once he was bare, save for a pair of blue and hot pink striped boxer briefs that clung to thin hips, he stepped up to the bed and lifted the comforter, crawling in next to his friend. He turned to face Seifer, the heat beneath the blankets already seeping into him. "I'll warn you, I'm a cuddler," he said with a smile.

Seifer was, of course, quite confused when Squall suddenly started laughing. From the shaking, he had at first thought the other boy was crying again, but it was soon dispelled, leaving Seifer wondering what was going on in Squall's head. His own grip started to loosen, insecurity beginning to set in until Squall explained what was so funny. He supposed there was some irony in it and he quirked a crooked smile of his own. They were both emotionally and physically drained and really neither of them was in any state to be seducing anyone.

Squall's suggestion to discuss things in the morning seemed like a brilliant one; they were tired and Seifer was sore all over. And they would be much more clear headed in the morning anyway. Seifer watched the other teen pull away, vibrant and half dilated eyes tracking his movements as he maneuvered around the bed and stripped down nearly bare, a sight that Seifer couldn't honestly say he disapproved of, tracing the lines of Squall's tattoo and lingering on all the revealed pale flesh beneath.

"I don't think I'll mind in the slightest..." Seifer didn't say that he'd never shared a bed with anyone, at least not anyone his own age and that he was a little nervous, but welcomed the prospect of sharing Squall's.

As soon as Seifer gave his consent, Squall pressed close to his side, slipping a smooth arm over his hip, hand resting on his stomach as he spooned up against him. Squall had never shared a bed with anyone, save for the very first time he'd ever had sex with his first love before his reputation had been made, and that was only because he hadn't been able to move afterwards.

He pushed those thoughts away. Seifer was nothing like  **he**  had been. He closed his eyes as he leaned his head on the blonde's shoulder, fine strands of chestnut tickling at the older boy's neck as he got comfortable against him. He closed his eyes as Seifer tentatively wrapped his arms around him in return. Neither would recall when they fell asleep in the morning.


	9. Closer

Working as a congressman had its perks. You had influence for starters. When Alexander Almasy had went upstairs to confront Seifer about what had happened the day before in school. There was no answer. When he called the phone; he didn't even pick up the telltale ring of vibrate behind the barrier of his son's closed bedroom door.

Either the phone was dead or Seifer had turned it off. Either way; it wasn't acceptable.

Alexander went to his own bedroom briefly, retrieving the spare key to Seifer's room out of his night stand.

When he opened the door; there was a distinct lack of teenager. For a moment, he was stunned beyond words. This was uncharacteristic of his son.

Naturally, he called the police and it took a scant 30 minutes for him to get the address that the phone was located at. Denying a police escort or any kind of back up; he got into his car and drove to the location. Much to his surprise and despite what he had heard about this 'Squall' fellow, he was in a nicer part of town, making him suspect for a moment that perhaps this was some girl who Seifer was seeing behind Rinoa's back. It would certainly explain her aggravation and why Seifer had lashed out.

He pulled into the indicated address by the curb. Two very nice cars were taking up the provided driveway... Well, at least the kid had taste. Still, Seifer's behavior was inexcusable.

Barely 100 feet away; in Squall's room, the younger Almasy slept peacefully, his arms around Squall, his injuries of the day before long forgotten for now.   
Lguna had gotten home in the wee hours of the morning from an emergency with one of the production albums he was involved with. Upon returning home, he'd gone to check on his son and imagine his surprise at finding Squall in the arms of Almasy's son. He had known all along that it would end up in such a way, but he'd also known that this would have serious repercussions. Even in the dim light of dawn, he could tell that Seifer had been the one the principal had expelled. If the bruises and cuts were any indication, he'd been the one to get physical after what had been said to Squall. The principal had given him a summarized version of what had taken place from whatever she'd managed to wheedle out of the students. He no longer wondered what had set his son off or if Seifer had been involved. It was clear that the target had been Squall and the blonde teen had lashed out for his sake...

The taller man sighed heavily, leaning against the kitchen sink, staring at the cigarette butt that had been left by he could only assume Squall. He didn't know when Seifer had shown up or what had happened. He very much doubted it was anything too devious considering that the blonde had obviously taken a few hits even if he'd thrown most of them during the fight. When the two teens woke up, he would need to talk to the both of them. It was clear that the youth had not told his father his whereabouts, since Laguna was very sure that Alexander Almasy would not have allowed him out of the house after what had happened the day before.

When he heard the slamming of a car door, he knew immediately who it would be. The slim, middle-aged rockstar opened the door, stepping out onto the porch just as the other male was coming up the driveway. He lit a cigarette, cocking one hip in a nonchalant stance as he watched the other man's approach, the gate of a stern, no-nonsense, former frat boy, politician with ass backward views... Laguna knew his type well and had spent most of his youth and adult life fighting against his type. He let smoke billow from between thin lips as he stared at him, silent, knowing the other would make the first move. He wasn't going to let him into his house to pull his son and Seifer apart, to create more destruction where none was necessary... 

"Mr. Loire I presume? I'm here to pick up my son. I believe he is here on a... _Social_ call," the politician said, drawling out the word. He was, of course, dressed for work; black suit, black tie, his eyes a slightly darker shade of green than Seifer's, and though the elder didn't quite have his son's physique, the resemblance was clear. Something about having a desk job and no regular exercise had laid waste to his figure, though his pictures from college and high school said that he had been quite the looker as his son was.

He stopped in front of the musician, clearly expecting him to step aside or at the very least invite him in. It was clear that Seifer drew his public face from the example set by his old man. Nothing really could deter him. And the lanky man in front of him reminded him of some of the protesters that had shown up when he had proposed a tax break for business owners... Clearly, Squall's father was one of _those_ people; a lost vote anyway.

"Well?" he prompted, nodding at the door while crossing his arms over his chest.

Laguna raised his eyebrows, not answering the other male as he stood before him. They were very close to the same height, though it appeared that being a politician had allowed Almasy to put on a few extra pounds, not exactly the running back he had probably been at his son's age. He flicked his cigarette idly.

"He's not here," he lied, a half-smile playing on his lips as he brought the cigarette back up to them, taking a long drag off of it, his long, unbound hair ruffling in the slight breeze. Laguna could tell from the other man's wording exactly what he meant by social call and exactly how he felt about Laguna's son being that social call. He bristled slightly, the only outward appearance of his anger as the other crossed his arms, trying to look intimidating. The musician was unfazed by his tough-guy act.

"Well his cellphone is here and he never goes anywhere without it," Alexander paused for a moment; looking for a 'politically correct' way to put forth his next words "I am sorry for your loss, but Seifer need not be dragged into your son's... _Lifestyle choice_ ," he finally said with obvious disapproval, "And before you ask how I know, I checked with the police. So either your son stole mine's cellphone or mine is up there with your son. Stand aside and let me speak to him. That... _Behavior_ is unacceptable." He was clearly more disturbed about the fact that Seifer was wrapped about another male than he was that he had gotten into a rather large brawl in the school.

"How could you allow your own son to fall into that kind of behavior anyway? Let alone let him infect someone else with it?" he questioned; amazing that society had regressed so far as to have people like Laguna, okay with and even encouraging interfering with the sanctity of unions, corrupting the very moral fabric of society.

Laguna's jade eyes narrowed as he flicked his cigarette away from him, staring at the other man. He took a step forward, face to face with the broader blonde. "The only thing unacceptable here is your attitude Almasy," he retorted, anger adding a bite to his normally mellow tone.

"Even if your son _is_ here, you can't just barge in and tear him away. You can't mold him into what is acceptable in your very tiny world and I will not bend to your will. You won't get to throw your power around and win this fight," he said after a moment, his voice rising just a little more over the sound of the leaves rustling in the breeze. Seifer had rights... And he'd be damned if he'd let the youth's father try and stomp all over them. The activist in him wouldn't allow it. 

"My attitude? I demand to see my son. I didn't raise him to be... Some other boy's trophy!" Almasy hissed, almost spitting at the other. "Let me get him out of your heathen's influence. I'm not leaving here without him," he demanded, narrowing his eyes at Laguna. The musician was a stubborn one. He wondered if his son was the same. If he was... It was all the more reason to get Seifer out of there. Sooner was better.

"I do believe I am well within my constitutional rights to get my son back and if you don't let me see him, then you and I will have a very serious issue. My 'small world' is the America that our forefathers envisioned. I don't believe they would allow people like your son to corrupt our upstanding citizens like mine," he continued threateningly, clearly blaming Squall for everything that had happened.

Laguna's nostrils flared, "My son's done nothing of the sort. Isn't it telling that your boy would rather be here than at home with you when you deign to be there? The problem isn't the relationship between Squall and Seifer, but between you and your son and anything that shakes your archaic values up. I will not have you come here to my home and insult my son and tarnish what might be between him and Seifer while you spout your hateful refuse for everyone to hear. I wasn't aware that it was politically correct to be an outright bigot during a campaign... You could lose voters... Like my neighbors, just there," the slim dark-haired man was very nearly shouting, as close to shouting as Laguna ever got when arguing with someone; he gestured at the elderly couple that had come out onto their porch to investigate, looking worriedly at Laguna. He waved them back inside. The whole neighborhood knew him, knew his son. If asked about him, they'd most likely say something along the lines of, 'Oh, Squall's a good boy, so sweet. I sure hope they change that law, so he can get married someday. Sweet boy like him deserves to be happy.'

"And don't you talk to me about rights, you pompous, arrogant son of a bitch. You're son has rights too and where in the constitution does it state that you have a right to make him miserable? Let me ask you a question Almasy, will you love your son less knowing he may be fucking mine?" Laguna stepped very close to the other male, their chests touching just the slightest as he addressed him in a venomous tone.

***

Upstairs, Squall stirred in Seifer's hold, twitching just under the other teen's chin. Groggy storm-coloured depths opened, long lashes fluttering in the morning light streaming through the window. He was warm and comfortable and he couldn't figure out what it was that had woken him.

Seifer groaned slightly, shifting against the other boy, humming as the soft strands of Squall's hair tickled under his chin. "...th'tickles," he muttered, adjusting his arm over the brunette's stomach. 

Squall chuckled breathily, snuggling closer, intent on going back to sleep. He sat up abruptly as sensitive ears picked up the rise of voices outside. His eyes widened. It was his dad and someone else. He nudged the other boy lightly. "Seifer wake up, something's going on!" he said, panic colouring his words. He'd never heard his dad raise his voice like that before, not in that tone. 

***

"My boy is running away from his troubles! He knows full well that he needs a stern talking to and he came here to avoid that! You just admitted it!" Alexander argued, keeping his voice fairly leveled, though he was picking up volume, "The problem is that it is **wrong**. If people like your son were allowed to go about and encourage that kind of behaviour, it would be a mess! The bible states that a union should be between a _man_ and a _woman_. Their ' _relationship_ ' shouldn't even happen; it's unnatural!" When he was called a bigot, he just shrugged. He'd been called worse in campaign propaganda. "I'm here to save my son from himself. He doesn't know what he is doing," he said, taking another step forward. He and Laguna were practically chest to chest. "And he isn't miserable! He's happy. He was successful, well on his way to being a valedictorian and going into a career in politics! With this little mishap, it will take years for this incident to stop haunting him. His reputation is ruined. And it isn't just my right to take him home, but my social and moral responsibility to protect him from the influence of your kind."

Laguna shook his head as he ignored most of what the other man threw back at him. "You didn't answer my question," he deadpanned when the other finished his tirade, "Isn't Seifer eighteen? That's old enough to legally make his own decisions, isn't it? If I ask him, are you confident he's going to want to leave with you? If he chooses not to, what will you do? Do you honestly think you could convince anyone that he's been coerced?" Laguna watched Alexander, gaze unwavering in the face of his anger. He didn't care for his views or his words. The politician couldn't even say if he'd be able to love his own son if he turned out to be unideal... It disgusted Laguna. If it did come down to helping Seifer divorce himself from his father's crushing weight, Laguna was willing to be the support. He liked the way his son was when he was with the other youth. Squall smiled and it reached his eyes. He didn't look hollow anymore. Laguna wasn't about to give that up.

***

Seifer jumped in response to the sudden movement on Squall's part. He had been so comfortable too... "Help me to the window?" he asked, starting to hear his dad's 'fire and brimstone' speech. Entertaining when viewed on TV, less so when you realized he was completely serious.

"Seifer!" Squall called, nudging the other teen harder, "Get up! No time for the window, my dad's yelling at someone outside," he said, pulling away from the warm embrace entirely and slipping from the bed. He grabbed the first thing in his closet; it happened to be a shirt that belonged to Seifer, one that had been left at his home during one of their many sleep overs. He slipped it on and it fell just over his boxer briefs, only the briefest glimpse of them visible under the white button-up. He didn't bother with pants as he bounded down the loft stairs and out of the room towards the front door, not waiting for the other boy to follow him. He nabbed his cellphone on the way out just in case he needed to call the police or Uncle Jasper, his dad's lawyer. 

"I'm up... I'm up,” Seifer said, watching Squall retreat down the stairs. He was a bit slower on the rise, his father's words were fuzzy and he couldn't quite make them out. He was still in the grey sweatpants and shirt Squall had loaned him and he was still pretty clearly roughed up; swelling had gone down in most places, however, the bruises had been given time to set in. Seifer took his time limping down the steps, trying to catch up to Squall to see exactly what was going on... He had a feeling it wouldn't be good news. 

***

"It doesn't need to be answered," Alexander replied, just as deadpan. He couldn't honestly affirm... Nor could he in good conscious disagree. It was a question he couldn't properly answer. Not with Seifer getting expelled and turning out gay within twenty four hours, "And of course he'll leave with me. Blood is thicker than whatever perversion your son convinced him he feels." He sounded confident, but Laguna had him cornered. He had always put his career first. Always. Helping run the country was a demanding job. His wife had left him suddenly, didn't take any interest in the boy and had never paid child support, not that Alexander had needed it. "If he won't leave with me... Then whatever your son did to him must have worked... If a few blowjobs and sex under the bleachers was enough to win my son over, then it's a shallow thing." Going for the low blow, he added, "Seems to have worked on you just fine though."

Squall had opened the door just as Seifer's father tore into his father about what Squall had obviously done to manipulate his son. The brunette didn't even really register what was happening. His feet moved him; he didn't know how fast and he couldn't be sure how he'd made it from the front entrance to the space between his father and the older Almasy, but before he knew it, his palm had impacted Alexander's face with a harsh smack. His breathing was heavy and he stood in an awkward defensive stance, wanting to hit the other man again. How could he say something like that to his father? Squall would expect such crude cruelty from his classmates, but to have an adult say such a thing... Angry tears clung to dark lashes as he glared at the older male. Seifer and his father were nothing alike...

Laguna was quick to grab his son, pulling him away and pushing him back behind himself, "Squall, don't get involved, go back inside with Seifer and call Jasper."

"But--" 

Mr. Almasy for his part, didn't take to being slapped very well. He stood stock still, completely taken aback by the ringing in his ears from the echo of the hit. The burning in his cheek left him with a dumbstruck look on his face. "Did he just... _Hit_ me?" he questioned, blinking once or twice, peering at Squall and catching sight of Seifer limping down the stairs behind him. They exchanged a charged look; a dumbstruck father and a son who was torn between scared and impressed. Squall had just slapped his old man. Seifer had wanted to on several occasions, but had never actually done so.

Alexander recovered, leveling a glare at Seifer. "Come. Here."

The younger of the two blondes gaze dropped, shaking his head in the negative before looking to Squall for support as he finally made it down the stairs. "Seifer Alexander Almasy." Middle name. When the middle name was used, it was rarely a good sign. "If you don't come here right now, I'll... I'll..." Shit. Seifer didn't have a car; a game station he used often enough, he supposed and he didn't know about his hobbies, "...I'll turn off your cellphone...?" A weak enough finish.

Squall had wanted to argue further with his father, to scream at Seifer's for the horrible things he'd said, but the appearance of the other boy stopped him. Squall watched him as Seifer defied his father, his gaze seeking out the brunette's as he stood at the foot of the stairs. Seifer was so much more important than continuing to fight with Alexander. He swallowed, obeying his father and jogging back to the other boy. He put a soft hand to the side of Seifer's face, looking up at him before he pulled him into a hug, arms wrapping around the back of the taller teen's neck. "You don't have to go with him," was all he said, breath warm against Seifer's ear.

Laguna for his part began to laugh. "You don't know anything about your son, do you?" he asked, finding humor in the older male's flimsy threat and ignoring the fact that his son had just assaulted the other man; he was rather proud of Squall for that. Was that really the best the politician could do to try and force his son to go along with him? Alexander obviously knew very little about his own child. 

Seifer didn't respond to Squall's words; he seemed to have frozen up for a moment; the hug he gave the brunette was weak... It was weird really... It was usually him that held the other to comfort him.

"Of course I do. He... I..." Alexander spluttered as he tried to think of something, anything to save himself from this. He realized with horror that Loire had a point. He didn't know a damn thing about Seifer. He certainly hadn't seen this coming at all; he couldn't even bring himself to verbalize a counter. He blinked. Much of the fire in him had burnt out. He bowed his head, starting to turn away, his fists balled at his sides. He couldn't have his son be... _Like_ Squall Leonhart. It went against everything he believed in.

"Tell Seifer he has a week to change his mind," he said, already starting to retreat to his car.

Laguna gave him a mock salute as Almasy stormed back to his car, before the gangly rockstar turned to the two boys holding onto each other in the doorway. He shook his head as he made his way over to them, ushering them inside once again.

"Squall, go and put some proper clothes on. You probably just gave Mrs. Kadowaki a stroke," he said as he put a hand on Seifer's shoulder to keep him from following. Squall looked between the other boy and his father, sucking on his bottom lip. His father shot him a look and he moved, going back up the stairs as Laguna lead the blonde youth out to the kitchen and helped him onto one of the stools.

Laguna stepped over to the cupboard above the sink and took out a bottle of whiskey and two tumblers. He opened the bottle pouring some of the aged liquor into each and set one down in front of Seifer. "You could probably use a drink after that," he said idly, breaking the silence and lighting a cigarette, house rules be damned. The older brunette's hands shook just the slightest. He took a stool from next to the boy and sat it on the opposite side of the island so he could face him properly.

"I'm only going to ask you one thing and you are going to be honest. Don't think about your father or anyone else, only about yourself and how you feel. Is my son worth this?" his tone was very quiet, serious and completely calm. What would happen next depended on Seifer's reply. 

When Laguna's hand had first found his shoulder, Seifer wished he had stayed upstairs to begin with. This was hardly the way he had envisioned his week turning out. He was directed to the stools, feeling effectively numb, in shovk over how his life had crumbled within the span of two days. The alcohol put in front of him didn't last long; he was sorely tempted to just grab the bottle and go to town until he passed out.

Not the best way to handle a high stress situation, but it was certainly the easiest. Then again... Hadn't he chosen the hard road when he had stood up for Squall, finally acting on feelings he had concealed from that first night downstairs, learning to love music again. He thought that the practice for the music final had been for naught, but the time he'd gotten to spend knowing Squall was worth it.

Laguna's question was posed. The same question Seifer had asked himself before bed, the same one he'd seen swimming in Squall's stormy eyes when he'd sang to him. Sitting there on the kitchen stool after what he had just seen, what he had overheard, he knew that choosing Squall wouldn't be an easy road... But it meant he wouldn't have to give him up.

"... Yes... He's worth it," he answered quietly. It took him a while to get to that conclusion, but he was confident that it was the _right_ one. 

Laguna watched the teen drain his glass and drained his own in turn, staring at Seifer intently as he mulled over what the elder had asked him. He poured him another shot, before setting the bottle on the opposite counter away from them. He leaned over, placing his hand back on the boy's shoulder.

"That's what I wanted to hear. You know, your father isn't going to make this easy. We have to figure out what's going to happen before the week is up since your old man will make his move then. Think long and hard about what you want to do. If you're choosing Squall, I'll give you all the support I can. In the mean time, let him take care of you and maybe talk things out... You two have a lot to talk about I think," Laguna said, standing after downing his second glass and dropping his near finished cigarette into the empty glass. He stepped around the island as if to leave, but turned at the last moment and clasped Seifer's shoulder once more. "Even of you're dad's not, I'm proud of you." And then he left, going up to his room, passing his son along the way.

He gave Squall a hug, squeezing him tightly. "I love you Squall, no matter what anyone else says, you'll always be my son." Squall didn't know what to say, so he just nodded against his father's shoulder, returning the embrace before his father pulled back finally. He said he was going to call a few people and possibly would be going out to meet some of them if necessary as he walked the rest of the way to his room. He needed some legal advice and some information.

The younger brunette watched him go before he went back downstairs to see Seifer. He still had the white-button up on, but he now wore a pair of loose-fitting workout pants that generally served as pajamas for the youth. He stepped into the kitchen, lingering in the doorway as his gaze fell on the other male, still bruised and a bit swollen; Seifer looked lost. Squall swallowed, wetting his lips, "Seifer?" 

Seifer didn't notice Squall's approach, mind elsewhere, fear making him doubt. Had he made the right choice? Time would tell. At the very least, he had Squall's dad's approval, if not his own father's. He sniffed and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand. Feeling sorry for himself wouldn't do anyone much good, though he felt he had earned the right to wallow in self pity just a bit.

Seifer tensed when Squall called his name. He closed his eyes and sighed before he turned to Squall and opened them once more. For the first time in some time, he looked uncertain. There was worry, on some level there would always be a bit of anxiety when he thought about Squall, but now Seifer was frightened, not knowing his path anymore; it was all unknown territory for him. "I'll be alright," he assured, forcing a smile.

What he really wanted was to go back to bed, but Laguna was right... He and Squall needed to talk.

"You don't have to fake it, you know," Squall said from his place in the doorway. He could see the fear, could see through the forced smile. He knew the blonde enough to see it all. He offered his hand to the other male, reaching out for him and giving him the option to take it or leave it.

There were a lot of things that needed to be said, to be discussed, but they could done back in bed where it would be comfortable for the battered youth. Squall wondered how much of what had happened, was happening, that Seifer truly understood. He wondered if by the end of the week, the other boy _would_ change his mind about this... It would be difficult... And there were a lot of things Seifer didn't know about this kind of life...

He tilted his head, watching the other teen with a soft gaze, waiting for him to come to him. Would the other shed any tears for this? If so, Squall was willing to hold him while Seifer had done when he'd broken about his mother. 

Seifer took the offered hand, squeezing it in his own before responding, "Yes... I know I don't have to... It's just easier." His voice had a strange level of monotone to it. As he held Squall's pale hand in his own, thinking how much he liked the way they looked embracing one another, he let the smile fall, sniffing again. He was doing his best not to break down. If his dad had done anything right, it was how he'd taught his son to hold his feelings in check.

Seifer was still letting the reality of what had happened sink in. He had been expelled from school because he had gotten into a fight and his dad was furious... He was angrier than Seifer had ever seen him before, but the cause of it didn't seem to be that he had gotten into the fight or even that he had gotten expelled, no... What bothered his father was _why_ he had done so and he had only given Seifer a week to come back, to realize his mistake and make amends. Seifer knew full-well even if he did return to his dad, things would be vastly different between them, even more forced and worse than that, he would be forbidden from seeing Squall.

"... I need to lay down."

Squall nodded, wrapping cool fingers around Seifer's hand when he took it in his own. "Come, let's go back to bed," he said quietly, blushing softly at the sound of it. He lead the other back up to his room, slowly since he was still limping and in pain. Squall helped him into bed and crawled in next to him, though he didn't immediately press up close to Seifer, laying on his side and watching him instead. He wasn't sure how Seifer would react if he touched him too much. He seemed distant and scared. Squall supposed he could understand. He'd been so lucky to have a father like Laguna, he'd taken it for granted. He'd never meant for things to be this way, for Seifer to have to choose between him and his family.

"What'd my dad say to you while I was up here?" he asked, wondering if his father had said anything to change the other boy's demeanor. It seemed he was more distant than he had been before Laguna had took him into the kitchen. Squall leaned up on one elbow next to the blonde, watching him, his cheek resting on the palm of his hand while his other hand settled on the bedding between them in a silent offer of comfort.

Seifer leaned against Squall, wanting for the closeness he could provide. Yes, he was scared and his claim of 'I've had worse' just didn't seem to fit the situation anymore. This was worse than when his mom had just outright left without explanation because he had been too young to properly register her leaving; by the time he realized that she wouldn't be coming back, he hadn't missed he anymore. He slipped back under the covers, facing Squall, understanding and respecting the fact that he was being given space, though it was the opposite of what he wanted.

"...He said he wanted me to be sure that this is what I wanted... I am... But," he swallowed back a fresh wave of emotion. "I'm scared," he confessed, covering Squall's offered hand with his own. He didn't want to cry; he was fighting not to. He was fighting because he didn't want Squall to see how much he was struggling with the choice he had been given; it shouldn't be a choice anyone was forced to make. It was so stupid. Had Squall been a girl, his dad would have chastised him for fighting, enrolled him in a different school and that would have been it, but because Squall was male, everything had gone to shit. Seifer couldn't see the the issue with gender at the moment. Being with Squall made him happy and he didn't see why it couldn't be that simple. 

Squall pulled Seifer closer, laying the taller male's head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around him as soon as Seifer made it clear he wanted the contact. His heart was a steady thumping beat beneath Seifer's head as Squall cuddled him against his chest. He brushed his fingers over the blonde's hair lightly, soothing him as best he could.

"I'm sorry it had to be like this... But I... I'll definitely make sure that you won't regret it... Maybe you're dad will change his mind... If he loves you, he will," Squall said softly, leaning his cheek against the top of Seifer's head. He wasn't sure if they were the right words, but he didn't know what else to say. He'd never had to be scared like that before. Laguna had never once made Squall feel inadequate as a son, had never made him feel like he wasn't loved... It made tears prick in his own eyes as he thought of how the other boy must be feeling.

"You're really brave, you know," he said, voice soft and full of emotion. No one had ever done something like this for Squall... He'd always thought that knights wore shining armor and only defended princesses, but he'd been so very wrong... Seifer didn't wear shining armor and he wasn't as tough as he acted, but he'd defended Squall and defied his father, the father he'd spent most of his life trying to appease. 

Seifer listened to the words that Squall said, hearing them for their meaning, the intent. His arms wrapped themselves around Squall's middle. There was a hitch in his breathing as he tried to dismiss the brunette's apology. It wasn't Squall's fault. He hadn't asked for Seifer to fall for him. Once he was sure he could speak without his voice breaking on him, Seifer said, "Why are you sorry...? Not your fault that-" a sob rocked him and he closed his eyes, crossing his arms over Squall's back, holding him tighter. The taste of bile was rising in his throat, making him swallow, telltale taunts of threatening tears that he didn't think he could keep holding back. He nuzzled into the shirt that the other by wore, his tears getting leeched into the fabric before they could really fall.

Squall had called him brave... Really, he felt like a coward, like he was being selfish, putting his wants before reason. He tried to think of something to say, but failed, the occasional tear rolling from his eyes while he shook as he bit back his sobs. He his limbs felt heavy and his chest ached. 

As Seifer finally began to cry, as if a dam had been broken, Squall just held him tighter, uncaring of the wetness that soaked through the cotton of the shirt. He let Seifer cling to him while he cried; he could be an anchor. "It's no one's fault really... It just happens. I'm just sorry it had to end up so painful..." Squall cooed quietly as he held the other boy.

"You won't ever be able to be happy if you keep trying to make your dad happy. Even if not with me, but someone else... You can't live your life for his sake because it's yours and he doesn't have the right to take it from you... You are so brave to finally be able to break free," Squall sucked on his bottom lip as he moved a hand to lift Seifer's chin, looking into his teary face. He smiled very softly at him, craning his neck down to kiss him, his thumb wiping tears from his cheek. 

Seifer didn't have a response, after all, what was there to even say? Slowly, in Squall's embrace, he calmed down, sobs turning to hitched and somewhat shaky breaths while his tears slowed to a halt, wiped away by gentle fingertips.

Squall was right; he was the _gay son_... Too different from his dear old dad's oppressive views to ever be able to please him. Hearing it aloud was comforting in a way. Squall had pointed out a massive boon in choosing him. He wouldn't have for fight for his dad's approval anymore. He could live like he wanted; he could be happy.

Squall's hand lifting his chin and his soft eyes... Seifer shivered at the thumb wiping a tear from his face and leaning down to kiss him was perhaps the best thing that Squall could have done. He returned the kiss, leaning up and scooting up slightly so that neither had to lean quite so much. His shaking ceased, though the occasional tear rolled down his cheek when he blinked.

When Seifer leaned into the kiss, shifting up further on Squall's chest, the brunette relaxed, opening soft lips in invitation. He was willing to take it; whatever anguish the other poured into his kiss. He would take it and swallow it for the other boy because he didn't want to see that look in Seifer's eyes again, that desperate fear. Squall's hands moved of their own accord, one sliding from the blonde's chin and jaw up and along the back of his neck, thumb resting just behind one of his ears. The soft fingertips of his other hand ghosted down Seifer's shoulder, over his collarbone and chest to slip around his side and press against the small of his back.

Squall tried to impress how he felt for Seifer in his own kiss, pouring comfort and support into it. He wanted Seifer to feel safe like this, how Squall felt with him even since the first time he'd had Seifer stay the night when they'd innocently held hands on the couch, where they watched programs neither of them could recall.

Squall desperately wanted to be able to take things back, even though he was happy in his heart of hearts that this had happened. If he'd never given the other boy a ride under the promise to keep his hands to himself, he never would have gotten to this point; he'd have made his move on Seifer then and it would have been finished on that very first day... But it hadn't and by the time Squall realized what had happened, he'd fallen in love again... With a boy that would definitely break his heart someday... But he hadn't been able to separate from him, couldn't cast him aside or ignore him. Seifer had seen inside Squall and knew his pain without judgment or question; he couldn't let the other boy go. And even now, he couldn't bring himself to tell Seifer it would be better if they stopped now and the blonde went back to his father because his life would be easier there, he wouldn't have to choose anymore; Squall would just disappear and Seifer would forget all about him and get married and have kids, and most likely be a politician. And he would be happy... He couldn't bring himself to say it because it would be a lie... 

Seifer for his part pressed himself into the kiss, soft lips parting, his arms loosening around Squall's waist, one hand slipping under his shirt and resting lightly on the silky smooth skin of Squall's back. Squall was telling him that he would be there for him, through anything, whatever was coming. Seifer was all to happy to comply. Squall had made him happy in ways that he never had the opportunity to experience before.

They had gotten this far because of Squall's “hands off” policy. He had no illusions that had Squall made a move on him, he would have let him, but he would have regretted it. This way however... He'd had a chance to get to know the other boy and fall for him on his own terms. The path that had led to this point could have veered off at any time; he could be with Rinoa right now, laughing at Squall... A possible future that sickened him because of how he had grown so attached to the feisty brunette.

Did he regret anything? Perhaps the fight that had gotten him thrown out of school, his father showing up and filling him with doubt... But as his pulse settled and the tears cleared from his eyes, he knew everything would be okay. He was taking the harder path, but he wouldn't be happy taking the path of least resistance.

Squall's tongue coaxed Seifer's into his mouth, deepening the kiss further as he kept the other male pressed firmly against him. He was taking a chance on being hurt again, but he couldn't stop even if he'd wanted to. His pulse quickened as heat rose all over his skin, spreading from wherever his body touched Seifer's. It was a little startling for Squall as he had been abstinent ever since he'd met the tall jock and had made no advances on his friend, until just recently... And now, his whole body ached for him... He wanted to be as close as he could be to the other male, but there were injuries to think of and repercussions... It wasn't the time...

Even though his mind was supplying a thousand reasons to go no further, Squall's hand's did as they pleased, both moving to the small of Seifer's back, slipping underneath his shirt and up his back before gliding back down and onto his chest, fingertips brushing down sensitive sides. Squall's breath quickened and a rosy flush rose on his cheeks, dark lashes lowered as he pulled back from the kiss briefly, parted lips wet and red from the kisses as he panted slightly. It was the worst possible time for his body to decide it wanted more... It really would be taking advantage of Seifer's state of mind, but... 

Their breath was being exchanged, in and out and he could feel his pulse leveling out from its panicked high, only to beat into dull throbs of want. He couldn't even remember the last time he had been intimate with anyone and he couldn't recall a time he'd wanted to this badly. His fingers followed though on his mind's desire, one hand joining the other on Squall's back, slowly moving down to the base of his spine, stopping before repeating the motion. Squall's fingers on his skin were like fire, but it was slow burning.

His injuries hurt, but Squall's touch didn't. It felt... _Good_. Amazing, really. Tingles spread in the wake of waves of heat... Blood was being directed in such a way that his desires were making themselves known. When Squall pulled back for breath, Seifer looked uncertain. He was scared, but that was mostly about his father. And maybe he was a little scared about being with Squall too. If he followed through on his desires, would it change anything between them? More importantly, what would happen if he resisted? He didn't want to find out.

Squall was special to him. Seifer closed the distance between the two of them again, nuzzling his head between Squall's shoulder and neck, breathing in and out, planting a kiss to soft skin there. 

Squall shuddered as Seifer's hand ran down his back, brushing just at the base of his spine before repeating the motion again. He could feel the heat pouring off the other male as he moved against him, could feel the telltale hardness of arousal.

He looked into the uncertain gaze, stormy silver-blue meeting deep honeyed jade as he waited for the other to do something, stop or continue. His breath hitched when he felt the blonde's lips on his neck and his fingers spasmed against his back uncontrollably. He trembled beneath the onslaught of pleasurable tingles that ran through him. He ground up against the boy that was very nearly on top of him, a soft noise escaping him as he shifted.

"Seifer, roll onto your back, I don't want you to aggravate your bruises," he said breathily, his hand coming up to the other boy's shoulder in an effort to coax him back. It wasn't going to be possible to go all the way, not when Seifer was as beat up as he was and the bottle of lube was in the glove compartment of Squall's corvette. But he could definitely do other things. 

Seifer had moved atop of Squall without realizing it. His skin so was soft under Seifer's hands and he smelled like smoke and flowers. Seifer felt the little shudder that rocked ran through Squall in response to his touch and made note of it for later. Pressed against each other as they were, he could feel Squall\s heart beating, the mingled heat flowing between them and his arousal pressed practically into the other boy's leg.

The hand on his shoulder and the words breathed into his ear sent another surge through him. "O-okay," he stammered, breath hitching with apprehensive anticipation. His grip loosened slightly around Squall, giving the taller blonde enough room to shift to his back, one hand tracing down Squall's jaw. Oh how he wanted him. Squall wanted him too if the way he had ground up into Seifer was any indication.

"I... If you don't want to Squall, you don't have to," he said aloud, but his eyes were begging the opposite. They were pleading for Squall to continue. He kept his reasoning at least and he didn't want one incident to ruin their relationship. He didn't want Squall to think he had to do anything like this. 

"I want to... But we can't go all the way... I don't have supplies for that up here," Squall replied, biting his lip and blushing at his own words. It implied that he wanted to have sex with Seifer, even if it was uncomfortable, even if the other turned out to be clumsy, even if he had to stay in bed after. And it implied that he was disappointed that they couldn't go further than what he had planned. It was for the best. There was no reason to jump into that yet. They'd have time, at least he hoped they would. As long as Seifer didn't change his mind within the week.

Squall sat up on his elbows, waiting for the other boy to get comfortable on his back, watching him through misty blue tinted depths. He could see the desire in the other male's eyes, could taste it in his kiss. Dark lashes lowered halfway as he just stared at Seifer. Slowly, he moved up to his knees. The blankets fell back as the brunette moved, pooling around Seifer's legs. Squall's hands shook slightly as he pushed the other boy's shirt up tentatively, his gaze following his hand's movements. He licked his lips as his fingers trailed over the center of Seifer's chest and down his stomach, lingering just above the drawstring waistband of the sweats, where an obvious bulge had made its presence known. He'd felt it against him before, but it almost surprised him seeing it.

Carefully, he maneuvered himself between Seifer's legs, their hips resting against each other as Squall leaned down on his palms to kiss Seifer once again, running his mouth from his lips to his jaw and down his neck to his chest, nipping and kissing him, taking in his scent, salty sweat and dirt from the fight the day before and the lingering scent of his own shampoo and cigarettes along with something that was entirely Seifer. Squall nibbled at his chest, slowly moving further down, breath stirring against the blonde's skin as he ghosted lips over exposed hips where the loose sweatpants had slipped down tantalizingly low. Squall's own erection was straining against his pajama pants, but was pretty well hidden by the long white fabric of the button up, but he was sure the other had felt it when their lower bodies had been so firmly locked together and he was sure seifer could feel it now. 

Seifer blushed. Hard. Hearing that Squall would be willing to go all the way with him... The implications blew his mind. He knew that there were other things that prevented them from going too far, his condition was a big one, but it was comforting to know that Squall at least wanted that intimacy one day. 

Seifer wasn't content to simply lay there; he was nervous as this would be their first time having what could only be described as intimate contact and that excited him, scared him. His hand stroked the side of the Squall's face as he watched him hovering over his chest. Yes, Squall was sure. As their hips were pressed together again, he felt something hard against him and realized belatedly just what the hardness must be... Squall wanted this just as much as he did. That in itself made his heart flutter.

Up and down Squall's nimble hands went, exposing Seifer's chest and he assisted by peeling off the shirt as it bunched up around his shoulders... He would need a shower anyway, he reasoned.

Another kiss, shorter than the first, shivers running though the other male as the lips passed over his neck, his chest and down, the little nips making a pleased hum pass through him. His hand at Squall's back since they'd first started, stayed in place, massaging at soft skin beneath the fabric of Squall's shirt, his other slipping up to card through the soft chestnut strands of Squall's hair. His hips bucked of their own accord as Squall mouthed over his hipbones teasingly, his cock twitching in the confines of the tented sweats.

Seifer was well endowed, though he wouldn't know it as the only other erect penis he had ever seen was in porn and he couldn't hope to compare to that. 

Squall's eyes closed as Seifer's hands found their way to his hair and stroked the soft, silky strands. That soft purring that had been heard only a handful of times came again, rumbling quietly in his chest as he reveled in the pleasure of Seifer's fingertips on him. He shifted his weight to his knees, pulling back only enough to bring numb hands to the waistband of the pants. Nimble fingers untied the drawstring deftly, curling under the fabric and carefully pulling it down along with his boxers, releasing the other male's member from the confines. 

His right hand immediately wrapped around Seifer's erection, soft palm smoothing over the sensitive flesh expertly. He nipped at each exposed hip before pulling back, pink tongue coming out to taste the tip of the other boy's penis. "Ready?" he asked, looking up through thick lashes as he bent forward to lap at the head, tasting Seifer for the first time.

Squall had done this specific act many times over, but it felt like he was doing it for the first time. He remembered all the techniques, but he felt like he was shaking with nervousness. He wanted to make Seifer feel good... 

Seifer liked the sounds Squall made when he touched him just right and way he moved against him, shifting and shivering. Squall was adorable, beautifully flushed, acting so shy while his movements were coy. Seifer had to give the boy that; he was alluring and so damn pretty to look at. The little nips at his hips made his legs twitch, the warmth of the other boy's hand making his cock pulse against his touch. Seifer had imagined this before, usually in dreams before waking up with a raging hard on and on lonely nights when no one was there to know what he was thinking.

The touch of tongue against his flesh made him shudder violently, anticipation burning though him. "Fuck yes, please," he affirmed eagerly, his voice wavering slightly as a burn of red heated his ears. He carded his fingers repeatedly through Squall's hair, pushing it back from his forehead and affording him a better view of Squall's hooded eyes and his dick disappearing between those plush lips. He tried desperately to keep himself from thrusting up or pushing Squall's head down, panting with the effort it took to restrain himself; he wanted it so badly. 

Goosebumps rose on Squall's skin as Seifer's fingers spasmed, tickling over the soft flesh of his nape and against his scalp. When Seifer gave his consent, that was all he needed. His lips closed around the head of the other boy's cock, one hand still holding it steady as his other found purchase on the blonde's hip, keeping him still as Squall drew him further into the warm, moistness of his mouth, teeth a lingering danger that was not cause for worry. Squall knew what he was doing.

A skilled tongue slid down the underside of Seifer's shaft as he sank down as far as he could without swallowing him, applying gentle suction as his hand slid over the remaining exposed length, his fingers bumping against his own chin now and again as he moved both his mouth and his hand, making Seifer's penis slick with saliva, his hand gliding over it smoothly. The purring hum only intensified as he sucked his friend... _Lover_ off for the first time, reveling in the salty taste and the heady musk that accompanied arousal. The vibrations traveled up from his chest and throat, reverberating through the shaft in his mouth and making Seifer squirm and whine lowly.

Squall bobbed up and down easily, hand following his mouth as he moved. He closed his eyes briefly, focusing on breathing through his nose. He didn't usually suck anyone off without a condom, but he didn't think it mattered with Seifer... He kind of wanted... His cheeks burned a darker red as he cut the thought off, concentrating on getting the other boy off, wanting to feel him lose it. The hand on Seifer's hip massaged the bone and flesh as Squall moved over him. He didn't even think about himself, completely absorbed in how he was making the other boy feel. 

Seifer was... _Pleasantly_ surprised at the skill with which Squall lowered himself over his member. The last time he had gotten any action hadn't been a particularly pleasant experience he had no desire to repeat again; teeth had made more contact than he cared to mention. But Squall... Squall was something else entirely. A slow, low moan came from Seifer's lips, his toes flexing against the floor of Squall's loft as he relaxed back into the bedding and closed his eyes.

The soft, swiftly dampening hand started traveling up and down on his shaft, the sensation new but familiar. Squall hand felt different from his own, the palm softer, though the grip was familiar in a way no girl's ever had been and the hot and moist mouth around him was setting him into a high that he wouldn't soon be able to forget.

Seifer shifted his hips up and down involuntarily with the bobbing of Squall's head, a testament to how deeply lost Squall was driving him. The hand sliding along with the wet heat, the muffled sucking sounds that came with his movements was slowly driving any semblance of coherent thought from Seifer. His cock was weeping small beads of precum that had been coaxed out by Squall's minustrations. He slipped one hand down from Squall's neck to rest over Squall's smaller, softer and paler one at his hip, his legs spreading a bit to accommodate the other boy more comfortably. "Ah f-fuck Squall," he murmured huskily, breath hitching as his fingers stroked through Squall's sweat damp hair again unconsciously.

Squall strained to pick up every sound that came from the other male as he worked him with his mouth and hand. He moved easily with the uncontrollable thrusting of the other boy's hips. He could taste the precum as it leaked over his tongue, coating the inside of his mouth. Hearing the breathy hitching of his name, the brunette suddenly slid further down Seifer's cock, swallowing him, throat constricting around the hot flesh. He didn't gag or choke, though tears burned beneath tightly closed lashes as his jaw ached and he struggled to maintain his breathing through his nose which was now brushing against the coarse, vaguely curled hair just above the base of Seifer's thick member.

His humming ceased for only a brief moment before returning, heat spiking through him as Seifer's fingers dug into his hair, right above the nape of his neck. He swallowed around the thickness, minding his teeth before he slowly pulled up, increasing the suction of his mouth just a little. 

Seifer's eyes shot open widely in response to the feeling of tightness around his dick, Squall's rippling throat coaxing more moans from him. He could feel his cock almost swelling, his balls already begging to pull up against his body, pleading for release. Looking down and seeing Squall's nose buried in his pubic hair, he couldn't help but blush darkly, the subtle heated feeling of Squall's panting breaths turned him on to a degree he'd never before experienced in his life.

The swallowing motion forced Seifer's hips to press deeper, to rock into the rippling warmth, though he viciously forced them back down just as quickly, fingers still massaging the back of Squall' head, alternately tangling and tightening almost painfully in the strands. Seifer could feel the saliva coating his member, the increasing suction from Squall's talented little mouth meant that he had a snowflake's chance in hell of lasting for any extended period of time, no matter how much he might like to. "Squall... Fuck Squall, that feels... Amazing... I... D-don't... Think I can... Keep mn fuck... Going much longer," he warned, not wanting to surprise the other boy and risk annoying him.

Squall pulled back, letting Seifer's tip slip from between his lips with a soft pop, a string of saliva attaching the two. "It's fine," he said breathily, voice just a little hoarse. He guided the slick member back to his mouth, repeating what he'd done minutes before, taking him in deeply, swallowing, hot breath faster as he opened his eyes and looked up at the other male as his nose was buried against Seifer's pubic hair once again. He could see the pleasure written all over the older teen's face as he tried to control himself.

The hand he'd been using to hold Seifer's cock steady, unnecessary at the moment, slipped lower, fondling the jock's balls, the tip of his middle finger pressing against Seifer's perineum, massaging the sensitive patch of skin that stimulated the prostate gland. Squall's eyelids drooped, soaking up the satisfaction he was getting from bringing Seifer off and preparing himself for the telltale shot of heat he'd feel against his lips just before the other boy came inside his mouth, that way he'd be ready to swallow it. Heat and lack of oxygen made little white spots float before his eyes as he watched the other male's expression, glossy slate, hazy with aroused tears clinging desperately in the corners of his thick-lash rimmed lids. He wanted to see what Seifer would look like when he hit his climax. 

Seifer shivered and though he tried to hold out stubbornly, Squall's mouth on him and the echoing of his acquiescence made heat curl tighter in bottom of Seifer's stomach and he could barely breathe, panting harshly as he gave up on trying to fight it anymore. 

The hand moving down to fondle his balls made Seifer bite his split bottom lip harshly, too lost in the onset of euphoria that he didn't even register the sting... Even that paled in comparison to the bolt of electric pleasure that shot through him, eyes impossibly wide as the pad of Squall's finger rubbed with even, insistent pressure beneath his balls and so dangerously close to another area... He hadn't a clue when Squall had first brushed the soft damp flesh, but almost crippling waves of sheer ecstasy surged under his skin. His mouth opened in a harsh gasp followed by an audible groan. His cock throbbed, seeming to swell slightly as a powerful shot of his seed erupted from his member followed by several more slightly weaker ones, a breaking moan escaping his throat as his hips jerked and he spent himself on Squall's tongue.

Squall expected the erratic movement and accommodated it. He swallowed reflexively as hot semen splashed against the back of his throat, while a moan erupted from the blonde beneath him, his fingers curling painfully in Squall's hair, not that he minded, a moan of his own stifled by the pulsing flesh in his mouth. A rivulet of Seifer's cum slid from the corner of his mouth and down his chin as he pulled back a bit, continuing to swallow until the other had finished, shuddering and twitching in the aftermath.

He pulled away panting, flushed and a bit sweaty, lips red and wet. He wiped his chin with his fingertips, a pink tongue slipping out to clean them off instead of wiping it on the sheets or his sleeve. He licked his lips, the salty tang of Seifer's cum lingering in his mouth. He crawled up Seifer's body, shapely thighs, still fully clothed slid to either side, straddling the softening male as he bowed over to kiss him, hands coming to hold either side of Seifer's face. Heat flowed through Squall in waves, searing his skin and making his breath erratic and laboured. He kissed the other boy as if he were starving, passionate and hot. 

With a deep relieved sigh and a release of the tight grip he had on Squall's hair, Seifer's touch instantly became gentler and watching Squall lick the excess cum from his hand was easily the sexiest thing he had seen. He stroked the side of Squall's face until he pulled back and when Squall crawled over him, Seifer invited him with open arms.

His arms moved down to Squall's back again, settling in the arching dip of his spine while he lost himself in the raw passion of Squall's kiss, tasting himself on his lips. Even so, he matched the passion, culing his tongue around Squall's as he pulled the other boy down further, massaging his back appreciatively. With Squall, everything was so different, so intense... It was so vastly different from the experiences he'd had with any of the girls who had taken him. With them, it had been, _'Let's trade'_ ... With Squall, it was _'Let's share this...'_ A very welcome change indeed. 

Squall shuddered as Seifer's fingers slipped free of his hair and settled against the small of his back. He melted into the feverish kiss, pleasure coursing through him in tingling shocks everywhere that the blonde touched. A deep hum of approval sounded as areas that were particularly sensitive to the brunette were caressed and massaged. He moaned softly, pressing himself against Seifer's hips and rocking slightly, arching his back into Seifer's touch. Squall's left hand wormed its way between them, resting against Seifer's stomach as his right hand crept to his own pants. He slipped practiced fingers inside, releasing his own erection, smaller than Seifer's and pale and pretty like the rest of him, the pink head glistening with precum. There was no way he would last for more than a couple strokes. Giving Seifer head had turned him on more than he'd ever been in his entire life. He'd never been so excited after getting someone off before.

He wrapped his fingers around his dick, giving a vague squeeze before running the pad of his thumb over the head, spreading the precum over it. He breathed a soft hiss, pulling back from the kiss only to bury his face in the juncture between Seifer's shoulder and neck instead as his hand moved over his own erection.

Seifer continued the soothing massage, keeping Squall tucked close to him, smiling when he pulled back from the kiss and leaned into his neck. Squall's left hand was worryingly close to the bruise on his stomach, but Seifer watched with an interested gaze as Squall exposed himself to him and wrapped his other hand around his pale prick.

"Ah! Seifer, I'm... I can't..." His voice was shaky, panting heavily against the other male's skin and it was the only warning he could manage. He stiffened suddenly, pearly streams of semen shooting out of him, covering both of their stomachs in a warm, vaguely sticky mess. He wasn't sure if it was okay that he hadn't let Seifer get him off, uncertain if the jock would even want to and even ig he did, it would surely be too much for his hand injury. Besides Squall had no doubt that if Seifer had lasted just a few more moments, he would have came without ever being touched at all. 

Seifer's exploring hands shifted down to cup Squall's ass, giving it a firm squeeze just before Squall tensed and he felt something warm and wet spread over his stomach."Relax... I don't mind... I would've given you a hand but..." he trailed off, giving Squall a decidedly affectionate squeeze, pulling him the rest of the way atop him, only hissing softly as the brunette's weight settled over his bruised torso, though the ache passed quickly enough. His fingers tucked unruly strands of Squall's chestnut hair behind his ears, staring at him fondly. 

Squall was barely more than boneless as he was pulled more fully over his lover, letting his loose pants slide back into place as his hand fell from his softening member. His breathing was heavy and his chest heaved against Seifer's as he tried to regain control over it. His cheeks burned as Seifer's fingers clumsily brushed his sweat-dampened hair back behind his ears and looked at him like that. His legs felt cramped and numb from being bent for so long, but he didn't move, thighs remaining pressed close to the other male's sides as he was hugged close against a bare chest that was firm and smooth, evenly tanned and unmarred by blemishes. He laid his cheek against the left side of Seifer's chest, listening to the heavy thumping of his heart. His breathing slowly calmed, returning to some semblance of regularity.

Slight tremors still scuttled beneath his skin as the Seifer's fingers ghosted fluttering touches around hair and face. After several seconds, he carefully slid off of the other boy, cuddling up to his side instead, tired, but sated raincloud grey-blue met with the mossy green of Seifer's gaze and held as Squall breathed softly through kiss-bruised lips. "That was... It's never been like that before..." he murmured huskily, breath stirring against the cooling skin next to his mouth as he laid on the taller male's chest. He ran his hand over the damp expanse of Seifer's torso and abdomen, a mixture of sweat and Squall's cum reminding him that they would need to clean themselves up before any sleep could take place. 

Once they were both breathing normally, Seifer smiled contentedly. He had gotten over one of his fears for sure. He'd been afraid he might somehow suddenly become uncomfortable with the fact that Squall was male halfway through, but it had all just been baseless insecurity; Squall having a dick hadn't bothered him in the slightest. Squall slid off of him, pulling him from his own thought while providing some measure of relief to his sore muscles. He couldn't claim to entirely understand what Squall had meant with his statement. Seifer hadn't had enough sexual experiences to really give it a baseline. "... What do you mean...?"

"It's just that it was never that intense before... I almost came just from..." Squall trailed off, feeling the blush burn all the way to the tips of his ears and down onto his chest. He sucked on his bottom lip, reddening it more than it already was. He pressed in closely to the blonde's side, turning to press a soft kiss on his chest just over his heart as he thought about why it would've been the best he'd ever felt when having any form of sex. He didn't want to tell the other that though; how would he word it? He didn't want Seifer to know all of the things he'd done, knowing that he knew about his reputation was enough. It shouldn't have mattered, but it did for Squall.

Seifer didn't know how to respond to that, pride flaring in his chest and spreading through him pleasantly while he felt his own cheeks burning and he searched for some kind of distraction, not wanting t explore the implications behind Squall's words any further. “We should probably get cleaned up...”

"Yeah, we should," Squall agreed softly, an idea blooming in his mind. They both needed a shower and really Seifer would probably appreciate his assistance... "Do you want to have a shower together?" he offered, embarrassed for giving the invitation, but finding he wanted to do it himself, not because he wanted to do anything more naughty than what they'd just done or because he wanted to see Seifer naked for a while longer, but because he wasn't willing to give up the intimacy just yet and he'd never in his entire teenage life showered with anyone else, not at school and definitely not at home. Squall was very glad his dad had not decided to pay them a visit. There would be no way to explain their appearance accept for what it was and he didn't savour having his father walk in on the two of them... Laguna would never let him live it down...

But they were lucky, Laguna had decided to give the two boys some space to settle things between the two of them. What had happened in the last few days was an emotional tidal wave. He figured they could use the rest and the relaxation. They didn't have school, since Squall had decided to drop out and Seifer was already expelled and the both of them had looked exhausted. He'd left a note and some money on the counter for them to order something in later whenever they ventured downstairs again. Then he'd left for Jasper's place which was a good two hour commute.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I have adapted this from an original rp I was involved in a while ago. I loved the story line so much and the characters seemed to fit the FFVIII cast so well for an AU highschool fic, so here it is. Should be fun for me to write and hopefully for all of you to read. I will probably have a few more chapters posted this evening. I know this first one isn't all that long, but it's really more like a prologue.
> 
> As always R&R. 
> 
> Thanks a bunch.
> 
> Xander


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